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PIETY PROMOTED, 

IN A 

COLLECTION OF DYING SAYINGS 

OF MANY OF THE PEOPLE CALLED 

QUAKERS. 

WITH 

A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THEIR 
LABOURS IN THE GOSPEL, . 

AND SUFFERINGS FOR THE SAME. 
THE FIRST PART. 

A NEW EDITION. 

By JOHN TOMK1NS. 

" These all having oBtained a good report, through 
« c faith. — Rest from their labours, and .their works follow 
" them. — Receiving the *md of their hope, the salvation 
" of their souls." Heb. xi. 39. Re?, xiv. 13. 1 Pet i. 9. 

" Sav to the righteous, that it shall be well with him, 
" for they shall eat the fruit of the^r doings." Isa. iii. 10. 



LONDON : 



PRINTED AND SOLD BY WILLIAM PHILLIPS, 
GEORGE YARD, LOMBARD STREET. 



1812. 



1SL 




I 



TO THE READER. 



here present thee with a collection of the Dying 
Sayings, of many persons who lived and died in 
faith and communion with the people called Quakers, 
some of whom it pleased God eminently to make use 
of, for the gathering of that people into a distinct 
fellowship and society, from other professions in re- 
ligion ; and as God was pleased to call them forth 
into that work, so he supported them in it, and 
crowned their labours with success, and gave them 
not only peace in their own fouls, but also full as- 
surance of eternal life in the world to come. 

And inasmuch as the Lord delivered these from 
evil works, and has preserved them unto his heavenly 
kingdom, and their names are written in his book, so 
with us they ought to be had in remembrance, and, 
some " are worthy of double honour (especially they 
iC who laboured in the word and doctrine" *J for the 
service they have done in their generation, who 
" followed the Lord Jesus Christ - , denied themselves, 
" and took up their cross, despising the friendship 
-- and glory of this world y'f for v/hat things were 
gain to them before, those they counted loss for 
Christ's sake, for whom they suffered the loss of ail 
things, and counted them but dung that they might 
win Christ, and be found in him. It was Christ Jesus 
that was the object of their faith, however the worl-d, 
who were unworthy of them, represented and slan- 
dered them : and it was in the name of Jesus Christ, 

* 1 Tim- v. 17. f Matt. xvi. 24. 

A2 



4 TO THE READER. 

that they preached salvation, faith, ancj remission of 
sins : "for there is no other name under heaven given 
" among men, whereby we must be saved*." And 
this name, which they preached to others, their faith 
was in it, and that gave them victory over the world, 
so that they became more than conquerors through 
him that loved them. And great was their faith, 
zeal, and labour in the gospel, .speaking in this name 
of the things of the kingdom of God, aid spreading 
the same abroad throughout the nations, notwith- 
standing they were persecuted for their faithful tes- 
timony : but they made the like choice with Peter 
and John, to " hearken unto God rather than menf," 
when they were commanded not to speak at all, nor 
teach in the name of Jesus: for they could not but 
speak the things which they had seen and heard. 
And manifold were their sufferings for the same, as 
cutting off of ears, whipping and beating till their 
flesh was like a jelly, knocking down, and sore 
abuses in public places of worship, and in markets 
and streets ; and many other evil intreatings, which 
but briefly to mention, would make a large volume ; 
besides long imprisonments under premunire, and 
otherwise, in nasty goals and dungeons, and holes, 
whereby many lost their lives ; and others were 
openly executed in New England, for no other of- 
fence than being Quakers, - and preaching in the 
name of Tesus, contrary to the command of men ; 
yet they steadfastly kept the faith, like those faithful 
soidiefs recorded in the nth chapter of the Hebrews, 
who, though they were tortured, refused deliverance, 
it being not offered them upon terms agreeable to 
the will of God : and God was with them, and bore 
up their spirits over all the wrath and cruelty of men, 
yea, and over death itself, and filled their souls so 
much with the joy of the Holy Ghost, that they de- 

* Acts iv. 12. f Acts iv. 19* 



TO THE READER. v 

• clared, as they were led to the gallows, that it was 
the greatest joy and honour that they could enjoy 
in this world : farther saying, no eye can see, no ear 
can hear, no tongue can speak, nGr heart can under- 
stand, the sweet incomes and refreshings of the Spirit 
of the Lord, which they did at that time enjoy. 
And also declared, that they suffered not as evil 
doers, but as those who had testified and manifested 
the truth : putting the people in mind of the day of 
their visitation, and exhorting them to mind the 
light that was in them, which is the light of Christ ; 
which they testified of, and were then going to seal 
with their blood; committing their cause to God, 

. and their souls to the Lord Jesus Christ ; praying 
at the hour of death, in the words of the martyr 
Stephen, " Lord Jesus receive my soul." So that 
it hath pleased God, not only to give some of his 
despised people, called Quakers, faith to believe in 
Christ Jesus, who is the " true light which lighteth 
*' every man that cometh into the world*," but also 
hath given them power and ability to suffer for that 
blessed testimony, which he hath again raised up in 
this latter age, and also to seal the same with their 
blood : which testimony is the same with John's tes-* 
timony, who was sent from God, and did " bear 
" witness of the light, that all men through him 
" might believe. He was not that light, but was 
" sent to bear witness of that light. That was the 
*' true light, which lighteth every man that cometh 
i{ into the worldf ." And it was the work of the 
primitive preachers, " to turn people from darkness 
" unto light, that they might receive the forgiveness 
" of their sins, and an inheritance among them 
" which are sanctified by faith which is in Christ}." 
And it is' the same doctrine which the great Lord of 
all, Jesus Christ himself, preached in the days of his 

# John i. 9, f John i. 7, 8, 9. J Acts xxvl 1$, 

A3 



vi TO THE READER. 

flesh : "lam the light of the world, he that follow - 
" eth me shall r.ot walk in darkness, but shall have 
" the light of life*." And again, M While ye have 
tc the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the 
" children of the lightf.' 1 And this way the prophet 
Isaiah exhorted the house of Jacob to walk in, after 
he had foretold the peaceable effects that the word 
of the Lord should bring to pass in the nations in 
the latter days ; u O, house of Jacob, come ye, and 
"let us walk in the light of the LordJ :" to which 
agreeth the testimony of John the divine, " that the 
u nations of them that are saved shall walk in the 
tl light of God and the Lamb|j :" and those who walk 
in the light, 4t the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord 
" clean seth them from all sin. J" 

Reader, dost thou desire to die the death of the 
righteous, and have thy last end like unto his ?" 
u Take then heed to this light that shineth in thy 
" heartf :" " for God, who commanded light to 
M shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, 
* f to give the light of the knowledge of the glory 
" of God, in the face of Jesus Christ**. " Here the 
apostle asserts, that the great love of God in Christ 
Jesus, is manifested in man. Therefore thou who 
desircc to have peace with God on a dying bed, 
is believe m the light, so thou wilt become a child 
4( of the ligh^f-h" and wilt do the truth ; for he who 
doth truth, ccmeth to the light; he loves it, and 
desires to be tried by it *, for as our Lord said, he 
bringeth his deeds to the light, that his deeds may 
be manifest that they are wrought in God. 

It was this experience that those our friends, 
mentioned in the ensuing collection, attained unto : 
they believed in the light, they walked in the light, 

* John viii. 12. & xii. 4*5. f John x:i. 36. \ Isaiah ii. 5. 

I Rey. sxi. 24. § 1 John i. 7. ^2 Pet, I 19. ** 2 Cor. iv. $, 

ff John iii. 21, 



TO THE READER. vii 

and according to their several measures, they knew 
the blood of Jesus to cleanse their souls, and to 
* c sprinkle their hearts from an evil conscience, and 
" their bodies washed with pure water* ; " that 
when they came to die, they could declare their ex- 
perience of the work of Christ in their souls, and 
that God had forgiven them their sins, for Christ's 
sake: so that they could say, that there was no cloud 
in the way, God having fulfilled his promise of the 
latter days upon them, saying, w I will forgive their 
ic iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. 
* f These, their hearts did not condemn them, but 
; * c their conscience did bear them witness, and their 
<{ thoughts excused themf ." Oh, blessed are they 
who arrive at this experience : they can say with the 
prophet, " The work of righteousness is peace, and 
*' the effects of righteousness, quietness and as- 
<c surance for ever ;" and with the apostle, l< Glory, 
** honour and peace to every man that worketh 
4i good:):." So that the terms on which we must 
inherit eternal life, is faith and obedience; and to 
that end did the apostle declare, that u the mystery 
** which was kept secret since the world began, is 
<c now made known to all nations for the obedience 
" of faith U :" and as the same apostle saith, that 
" God will give to them, who by patient continu- 
" ance in well-doing, seek for glory, honour, and 
* ( immortality, eternal life : but unto them who obey 
iC not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indigna- 
" tion and wrath §." Therefore is Christ called the 
" Author of eternal salvation to all them that obey 
<c himf /' 

Wouldst thou not be afraid to die? come then 
unto Christ, believe in him, and obey him, and he 
■will bring forth the work of righteousness in thee, 

*Heb. x. 19. 22. f Rom. ii. 14. 15. \ Isa. xxx. ii. 17. [| Rom. ix. 10,- 

Rom, xvi. 25, 26. i. 5. § Rom. ii. 6, 7, 8. % Heb. v. 9. 

A4 



Tiii TO THE READER. 

the fruit whereof shall be peace and assurance for 
ever : thus it is well with the righteous, even here, 
as that the promise is, <f It shall be well with him 
" hereafter*." 

Help is laid upon Christ, and he is mighty to 
save; receive him in the li manifestation of his holy 
w Spirit, light and grace in thy heartf," where thou, 
wilt receive power to overcome sin in the bud, or 
first appearance of it ; for our Lord has taught us, 
that ** out of the heart proceed evil thoughts:}:, be- 
fore they come into action, as murder^ adultery, 
fornication, &c. So that if we keep to the cross 
of Christ, thar will crucify the " flesh with the 
" affections and lusts H,' and we shall be preserved 
from the consent to sin, and so from the guilt and 
"wrath to come ; and this will make a sick-bed easy 
to us, death will be no terror to these; the sting 
thereof, which is sin, being taken away, it will be 
embraced as the door of entrance into eternal rest, 
as one of our friends said, viz. Judith Fell, being as 
it were her last words, ' This is the way to rest, 
4 this is the way to rest for ever.* And indeed many 
are the living testimonies which they have left be- 
hind, of the certainty of their knowledge that their 
Redeemer lived, and that there was a crown of life 
which God, the righteous judge, would give unto 
them, and they desired to be dissolved, that they 
might inherit the same, having already " their in- 
" heritance sealed upon them by the Spirit of God$.'* 

Some said as followeth, viz. 

Richard Hubberthorn : * I know the ground of 
4 my salvation, and am satisfied for ever in my peace 

* with the Lord God/ 

Thomas Loe : ■ I am near leaving you, I think ; 

* but as well in my spirit as I can desire. I bless 

*. lea. ttl 10, f 1 Cor. xii. 7. f Mat. xv. 9. jj Gal v. 24, 
$ Ephee. i. 14, 



TO THE READER. jfc 

1 the Lord, I never saw more of the glory of God 
' than I have done this day ,' and he sang, * Glory, 

* glory to the Lord for ever.' 

Richard Farnsworth ; • I am filled with the love 
' of God more than I can express -, and God has 
' really appeared for us : if God himself had come 

* down and spoke as a man, he could not have spoken 
■ • more clearly to us than he hath done, by many 

'• testimonies from heaven in his people.' 

Josiah Coale: 'For my part, I have walked in 

* faithfulness with the Lord, and I have thus far 
' finished my testimony, and have peace with the 
'; Lord, and his majesty is with mey and his crown 

* of life is upon me.' 

Francis Howgill : c As for me, I am well content 

* to die ' y and if any enquire after my latter end, let 
f them know that I die in the faith in which I lived 
' and suffered for.' 

William Bayiey : 'Tell my friends, I go to my 

* Father and to their Father, to my God and to their 

* God j and let not my wife mourn in sorrow, for 

* it is well with me/ 

Sarah Beck : ' I feel sweet peace and great joy |, 

* O the joy that is laid up for the righteous ! who 
■ would not fear the Lord 1 who would not hut be 
'faithful!' 

Yea r we find children crying Hosannah upon their 
4ying beds : a young maid of sixteen or seventeen 
years old, viz. Elizabeth Braithwait, who was in 
prison for the truth, said, c I had rather die here 

* than in any other place. — I believe God will shortly 

* set me free from these and all other bonds, over 
<? all their heads ;. and in his peace, in true patience 

* I possess my soul,, and am contented, if it be his 

* will, to. be dissolved. 5 

And a child of nine years old, viz. Sarah Camm, 
said, * My sins are forgiven me, and I shall have 

* a resting place in heaven. — The Lord hath redeem^ 



a TO THE READER. 

* ed my soul to praise his name on high for ever : 
1 Oh, praises, praises to the Lord, bless his holy 

* name, oh my soul. — It will be well with me and 

* all that fear the Lord, for we shall have everlasting 

* joy in heaven.' 

And one about twelve years old, viz. Mary Samm, 
said, l I cannot but praise the name of the Lord 

* whilst I have being : 1 do not know how to praise 
' him enough; — I shall die to day, and my soul shall 
' go to heavenly joy, and everlasting peace for ever-- 

* more/ 

And a friend said, viz. Stephen Crisp ; ■ I have a 

* full assurance of my peace with God in Christ 
•Jesus; my integrity and uprightness of heart is 

* known to the Lord, and I have peace and justi- 
4 fication in Christ Jesus.' 

I shall not insert more of this kind in the preface, 
for thou wilt find great plenty of such like testi- 
monies behind •, only to shew how well it goes with 
the righteous here, and how desirable their latter 
end is, and what blessed fruits righteousness brings, 
and what assurance it giveth of everlasting life. 
Oh that I could, by these good examples, prevail 
upon some to be wise and understand this, to con- 
sider their latter end ; and that those who are young 
in years, might not put off this consideration till old 
age, seeing that here are many instances of young 
persons, who, if they had forgotten the Lord in their 
early days, he would not have spoken peace to them 
therein; as may be observed in an instance of Mary 
Harris, who for a time withstood the visitation of 
the Lord, and hardened her heart against his re- 
proofs ; though upon her sincere repentance, and 
deep humiliation, she was pulled as a brand out 
of the burning, and. God shewed mercy to her soul; 
But what said she, as a warning to others who lived 
in pleasures ? ' See here, the Lord hath made these 

* bones bare for my rebellion ; because I would not. 



TO THE READER. xi 

* submit to his precious truth, he hath brought me 
f to the dust, and I must lay down this body : Oh 
*■ do not you stand out, it will cost you dear if ever 

* you find mercy/ Let these things prevail upon 
some, and be warned by others harms : did she re- 
pent upon a death-bed, and obtain mercy ? Do not 
thou therefore presume to go on in sin, because 
grace has abounded unto her ; God forbid : if thou 
puts it off, thou dost not know but it may be too 
late. For thus indeed our Lord said, " Are there 
not twelve hours in the day*?" And we read o£ 
many called at several hours, as the li third, fixth, 
" ninth, and eleventh hour, -j-*' but do not read o£ 
any called after the eleventh hour. It is dangerous 
standing idle till the last extremity,, lest the long- 
suffering and forbearance of God should come to 
an end, and he should say of thee, as he said of 
Ephraim of old, who was joined to idols, " Let 
him alone. "J" Therefore, thou who hast not made 
thy peace with God, turn unto him with all thy 
heart, and meet him in the way. of repentance % for, 
as the Psalmist saith, li The Lord is good, and 
i( ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all 
u them that call upon him. j|," But if thou choose- 
thy own ways, and say, f It is time enough y re- 
member what our Lord hath left for a caution to 
thee, concerning, an evil servant who said in his 
heart, " My Lord, delayeth his coming, §."" so took: 
liberty, fell to eating and drinking with the drunken,, 
&c. " The Lord of that servant shall come, in a 
" day when he looketh not for him,, and in an hour 
" that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, 
" and .appoint him his portion with the. hypocrites ; 
"there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 
To prevent which,, let. none harden their hearts,, but: 

* Xohn xi. 9. | Matt. xx. \ Hosea iv. 17. [j Psal. xvi.-5a. 
§ Matt. xxiv. 48, 

A. 6 



xii TO THE READER. 

embrace the offers of grace in the present time, for 
the Lord will not always strive with men: where- 
fore the Holy Ghost hath said, " To-day, if you will 
" hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the 
" provocation, in the day of temptation in the wil- 
" derness, when your fathers tempted God ; where- 
u fore God Tvas grieved with that generation, and 
" said, They do always err in their hearts : so he 
" sware in his wrath, they shall not enter into his 
* rest.*" Read the third and fourth chapters to 
the Hebrews, and observe with what fervency that 
author labours with them to embrace the present 
visitation of God's love : for he saith, chap. iv. ver. 
7. that God limiteth a certain day j take heed there- 
fore, lest there be in any an evil heart of unbelief, 
in departing from the living God : " But," said he, 
u with whom was God grieved ? Was it not with 
u them that did sin ? To whom sware he, that they 
" should not enter into his rest, but to ihem that 
" believed not ? " 

Oh that the youth among us would lay these 
things to heart, and embrace the visitation of God 
to them, that they may not sin against God, and 
grieve him *, nor, through unbelief provoke him to 
exclude them from that rest which he hath pre- 
pared for his people. Those who are the offspring 
of believing parents, have not those difficulties to 
pass through, as their parents formerly had, in re- 
spect of making a visible profession of the blessed 
truth, as believed in by the people of God called 
Quakers : it is not now as it was in the days of 
Jael, when the highways were unoccupied, and the 
travellers walked on by-ways \ but our fathers have 
gone before us through the gates, and " have pre- 
4 • pared the way of the people : they have cast up 
*' the highway, and gathered (in a great measure) 

* Heb. iii. 7, 



TO THE READER. xiii 

v the stones out of it, and lifted up a standard for 
(i the people ;*" and these privileges have they pro- 
cured for us, with the hazard X)f their lives, like 
the mighty men of old, who broke through the host 
of the Philistines, to fetch water for David out of 
the well of Bethlehem f. We have great cause to 
be careful, having reaped such benefits through their 
zeal and faithfulness, not to sit down at ease under 
the profession of the truth only, and content our- 
selves in that-, but we must enter into the sheepfold 
by the Lord Jesus, who is the Shepherd of the 
sheep ; and himself hath said, " I am the door j by 
" me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved: J" 
and when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth 
before them, and the sheep follow him. This is 
(the right way to take up a profession of the true 
Religion, to know the Lord to lead us forth, and in 
all things to practise from true conviction, and not 
from imitation or example only. It was at this door 
that our fathers, and those who were in Christ 
before us, entered, and made a good confession be- 
fore men, and were not ashamed of the cross of 
Christ, nor to bear his reproach, esteeming it greater 
riches, than all the glory of the world. It was 
neither the frowns nor the flatteries of men could 
prevail upon them to sell the truth ; no, it had cost 
them dear, even the loss of all ; and they looked for 
nothing in this world to recompence them, but the 
u Peace of God, which passeth all understanding, JJ'* 
and was the legacy our Lord left his disciples : and 
in Mat. xix. 29, it is called the " hundred-fold," 
which our Lord promised they should receive, who 
had forsaken any thing for his narre-sake, besides 
the inheritance of everlasting life. And this reward 
was that which those our dear friends had in their 

* Isaiah Ixii. 10. f 1 Chron. xi. 17- f John x. 9. % Philip, iv, 7* 
John xiv. 2, 7, 



\W TO THE READER. 

prospect, which made many of them so cheerf.iHy 
run through such ^reat difficulties, and when the 
time came that their end was near, did sing for joy. 
And this is also a confirmation unto t'.ose who 
arc yet behind, that these our friends, who wor- 
shipped God after the way which men call heresy, 
were accepted of him 5 and that the u anointing*" 
(or grace of God) which we have received of Christ, 
and u abideth in us, teaching us of all thing'-, is 
truth, and is no lie,f ' or delusion c f the devil ; but 
is that grace of God that bringeth salvation, spoken 
of in the second of Titus, which hath appeared to 
all men, and hath " taught them to deny ungedii- 
u ness and worldly lusts, to Jive soberly, righteously 
" and godly in this present world ; looking for tlje 
"blessed hope and glorious appearing of the gre;t 
w God, and our {Saviour Jesus Christ, who ga\e 
" himself for us, that Ire might redeem us from all 
" iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, 
11 zealous of good works. *" These, I say, are a 
cloud of witnesses to the sufficiency of this hory 
anointing, and grace of God (which brings salvation* 
to them who follow the teachings thereof) not on.y 
in their holy living, but patient sufferings, and joy- 
ful deaths. And it has been a great strength and 
confirmation to me, to continue in the way of truth, 
as professed by the people called Quakers, to ob- 
serve the hope that the righteous have in their latter 
end, both from what I have been an eye and ear 
witness of, as well as from the credible accounts 
I have seen of the peaceable and happy end of those, 
against whom the hatred of our adversaries hath been 
mostly bent, and against whom they have spoken all 
manner of evil ; yet 1 have observed, that the Lord 
upheld them in their service, through all opposition, 
and stood by them to the end \ as one of them, 

* Acts xxiv. 14. f , 1 John ii_27. 



TO THE READER. xv 

declared, viz. Edward Burrough, even at the point 
• of death, that the presence of the Lord was with 
him, and his life he felt to justify him : so that I 
have desired to follow their faith, " considering'* 
(as the apostle saith) "the end of their conversa- 
" tion, % " which was peace with God through Jesus 
Christ-, and that the Lord owned them, even to the 
last, though they were hated and persecuted of men ; 
and the experience of the prophet, was their ex- 
perience, who said, " For the Lord God will help 
£*■ me, therefore shall not I be confounded : therefore 
" have I set my face as a flint, and I shall not be 
" ashamed ; he is near that justifieth me, who will 
"contend with me?f" And the apostle saith, 
" Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's 
"elect? It is God that justifleth.ij:" And if 
this light, spirit, grace, and anointings be sufficient 
to lead some, it is able to lead all men, if they 
will follow the teachings thereof, into all truth. 

And it is the blessed hope of life and immortality,, 
which is brought to light through the gospel, that 
-hath been the consolation of the children of God % 
for if their hope in Christ had been in this -life only, 
they had been the most miserable, considering the 
many tribulations and persecutions that they have 
met with in this world : but we look for a better 
resurrection, when the hour shall come,. " in the 
" which, all that are in their graves shall hear his 
" voice, and shall come forth \ they that have done 
"good, unto the resurrection of life;, and they that 
" have done evil, unto the resurrection of damna- 
" tion.|| " For we believe, that the dead shall be 
raised incorruptible ^ and we shall be changed : " So 
" when this corruptible shall have put on incorrup- 
is tion, and this mortal shall have put on immortality^ 

* Heb.xiii. 7. f Isaiah Ivi. 8. \ Rom. viii. S3, 34, 
I Jobn v. 28^29,. 



xvi TO THE READER. 

c< then shall be brought to pass the saying that is 
" written, Death is swallowed up in victory.*" But 
we are cautious, and desire not to pry into those 
secret things which God hath seen meet, in his divine 
Wisdom, to reserve unto himself, remembering the 
reproof of the apostle to some in his day, who were 
questioning, " How are the dead raised, and with 
M what bodies do they come ?f" Leaving it to the 
All-wise God to give us a body as it pleased] him ; 
since we are told, that M God will change our vile 
" (or low) body, that it may be fashioned like unto 
" Christ's glorious body, according to the working 
M whereby he was abic, even to subdue all things 
11 unto himself. ^ " 

And, as to the design of the publication of this 
collection, it is, that godliness and righteousness 
may increase and prevail amongst men, that they 
may have " Fruit unto holiness, that their end may 
11 be everlasting life.|| " And having in the course * 
of my reading, met with many excellent sayings of 
our dying friends, that afforded me much satisfaction 
of mind, as aforesaid, I have collected some of them 
together for the benefit of others *, knowing, that 
usually the words of dying persons make deeper 
impression on the minds of men, than words spoken 
at other times : and I have contented myself, for the 
most part, with what I have by me, except the sayings- 
of two or three, which I have inserted at the desire 
of their relations; for if I had collected all that I 
know of this kind, it would make a large volume : 
but here are witnesses enough to establish the truth, 
for I intend brevity. Some account I was obliged to 
give, concerning some of our dear friends sufferings 
and labours in the gospel, the better to let the reader 
into the understanding the weight, and indeed mean- 

* 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52. f 1 Cor. xv. 35, 36. f Phil. iii. 21, 
H Rom. vi. 22. 



TO THE READER. xvn 

ing of some of their expressions, not with purpose to 
exalt men, but to exalt the great God, and his grace 
in Christ Jesus, by which they were what they were. 
The Lord give them that read, a heart to understand 
the things which belong to their peace ; and if these 
shall be any means to stir up any to more faithfulness 
and diligence, in making their calling and election 
sure, my design is answered, and God shall have the 
praise of all, who is worthy for ever. 

JOHN TOMiCINS* 



Loudon, the 28th of the Eleventh Monthj 
1701. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 



THE FIRST PART. 



TAMES PARNEL, born at Retford, in Notting- 
•^ hamshire. was a young man who received the 
blessed truth early 5 and about the yar 1654, he 
visited George Fox, who was at that time a prisoner 
in Carlisle, where he disputed with, and confuted 
divers priests. and others; and afterwards travelled 
southward, preaching truth, and difputing with its 
opposers in Huntingtonshire, the Isie of Ely, and 
some other parts in Cambridgeshire, being then in 
the eighteenth- year of his aje. 

Ke was the first called a Quaker who preached 
the gospel in the county of Essex, viz. at Stebbing, 
Felsted, Witham, Coggeshall, Halsted, &c. by whose 
ministry many thousands were turned to the Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

About the middle of summer 1655, he came to 
Colchester, and on the next day, being the first-day 
of the week, he preached the gospel to thousands of 
people in that town, first at his lodging, then at the 
publick parish place of worship, and then in a great 
meeting appointed on purpose ; after that he disputed 
with the town -lecturer, and with another priest In the 
French school, ail this in one day; in which the wis- 
dom and patience of Christ appeared very gloriously, 
for the convincing of many who believed ; and he 
put to silence, by his sound doctrine, the gainsayers 1 



ao PIETY PROMOTED. 

but some hardened their hearts, others beat him with 
their fists and staves, as particularly one, who struck 
him with a great staff as he came out of a steeple- 
house, and said, 'There, take that for Christ Jcsus's 
' sake:' to which he returned this answer, ' Friend, 
* I do receive it for Je>us Christ his sake/ And many 
other intolerable affronts they offered him. 

After he had laboured in Colchester, he went back 
to Coggeshall, (where the professors had appointed a 
fast) from whence he was committed to Colchester 
Castle, and trom thence had in irons to Chelmsford 
assizes, and there was fined forty pounds, and com- 
mitted back again to Colchester, where they suffered 
n< e ro come to him but such as came to scorn, abuse, 
eat htm; not allowing him at some times to have 
food brought to him, and at other times took the food 
away when it w.is brought him ; and fo ced him to 
lie on the scones, which in wet seasons would run 
down with water. Then they put him into an hole 
in the wall, hiah from the ground, where the ladder 
was too short by six feet, not permitting his victuals 
either to be brought to him, nor he to draw it up 
with a basket and a cord, which his friends had pro- 
vided, but he must either come down by a rope, or 
famish in the hole. Afte; long suffering in this hole, 
it having no place either for the air or smoke to pass 
out, his limbs were so much benumbed, that one day 
climbing up to the top of the ladder, and catching at 
the rope with his other ha-d, he missed it, and fell 
from a very great height down upon the stones, 
whereby he was exceedingly wounded in his head 
and body, and taken up for dead : after that they put 
him into another little hole called the Oven, (some 
ovens more broad) where they would not suffer him 
to have charcoal, neither would they accept of bail, 
nor body for body, which his friends offered, that he 
might recover of his hurts : and one day, the door 
being open, he did but once get out of that nasty close 



PIETY PROMOTED. sx 

hole, and walk (for a little air) into a stinking yard 
before the door, when the goaler'came in a rage and 
locked up the hole, and shut him out in the yard all 
night, being in the coldest time in all the winter; so 
he grew by~these cruelties weaker and weaker, finding 
no mercy at the hands of his enemies. And near his 
departure he said (being all along borne up in much 
patience) * Here I die innocently : ' and further said, 
4 Now I must go:* and turned his head, and said, 
c This death I must die :' further saying, * I have seen 
.* glorious things ; ' and said to his friends about him, 
i Will you hold me ?' One of them said, * Dear heart, 
* we will not hold thee/ And then he said, ' Now 
' I go : ' and stretching out himself, fell into a sweet 
sleep for about an hour, (as he often had said, one 
hour's sleep would cure him of all) and so drew breath 
no more. 

He died about the nineteenth year of his age 3 in the 
year 1656. 



[OKN CAMM, born at CamVgill, within the 
** barony of Kendal in the county of "Westmoreland, 
was a man inclined to religion, of the strictest sort, 
from his childhood. He, with many more, who 
sought after the best things, separated themselves 
from the national worship of those times, and met 
apart at a place called Firbank chape., and other 
places, among which people he was sometimes a 
preacher; bu: in the year 1652, he was (with many 
hundreds of the congregation, among whom were 
John Audland, Francis Howgill, Edward Burrough, 
and Richard Hubberthorn) convinced of the truth, by 
the preaching of that servant of the Lord, George 
Fox ; and he submitted to the mighty power of the 
Lord, and operation of his blessed Spirit in his heart, 
and was made willing to take up the cross, and forsake 
the glory and friendship of the world; and after a 



22 PIETY PROMOTED. 

day of great trouble, through the spirit of judgment 
and burning, wherein he found the old heavens and 
earth to pass away, even as a prepared vessel the Lord 
filled him with his power, and put his word into his 
mouth, and sent him forth to publish the same; and 
he was obedient, and travelled into all the northern 
counties, to the borders of Scotland, and from thence 
to London, in company with Francis Howgill, with 
a message from the Lord to Oliver Cromwell, then 
protector. 

After his return from London into the north he, with 
John Audland, Francis Howgill, Edward Burrough, 
and Richard Hubberthorn, went southward; John 
Camm and Edward Burrough travelling through the 
middle of the nation, the others through other parts, 
and they met together at London, with several other 
of their brethren. 

After some time, John Camm and John Audland 
Mere called towards Bristol, were an effectual door 
was opened to them, and many hundreds were, by 
their word and testimony, which they published, 
turned to God. 

John Camm was naturally of a weak constitution 
of bouv, and by the daily travels that he underwent, 
spent his strength exceedingly, and had a violent 
cough a considerable time before his death. He -was 
a man richly furnished with the gifts of the Holy 
Spirit, patient i:i exercises, grave in behaviour, pro- 
found in judgment, quick in discerning, and a sharp 
reprover of wickedness, hypocrisy, and of disorderly 
walkers in the profession of truth. Unity of brethren 
was his soul's delight; his ministry weighty and deep, 
not pleasant to itching ears, but reached the witness 
of God ; careful not to make the gospel chargeable, 
having an estate of his own ; and often suffered the 
spoiling of his goods joyfully, in a faithful testimony 
against tithes. 

He would often call his children together, and ex- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 23 . 

hort them to fear the Lord ; and would wonderfully 
praise God for his goodness, counting his bodily weak- 
ness an happiness, being sanctified unto him by that 
word which had sanctified his soul, under the sense 
of which he would say, ' How great a benefit do I 
' enjoy beyond many, I have such a large time of 
' preparation for death, being daily dying, that I may 
c live for ever with my God, in that kingdom that is 
c unspeakably full of glory : my outward man daily 
' wastes and moulders down, and draws towards its 
' place and center ; but my inward man revives and 

* mounts upwards, towards its place and habitation 
c in the heavens.' 

The morning he departed this life, he called his 
wife, children and family, and gave them seasonable 
instruction to love the Lord, and his way, and truth, 
and to walk in the same, saying, his glass was run ; 
the time of his departure was come ; he was to enter 
into everlasting ease, joy and rest •, charging them all 
to be patient and content in parting with him ; and 
so presently fainting, passed quietly away as into a 
sweet sleep, whereupon some about him did weep 
aloud ; at which he was awakened as out of a sleep, 
and desired to be helped a little upon his bed, saying, 

* My dear hearts, you have wronged me, and disturbed 
( me, for I was at sweet rest ; you should not pas- 

* sionately sorrow for my departure : this house of 
4 clay must go to its place, but this soul and spirit is 
' to-be gathered up to the Lord, to live with him for 

* ever, where we shall meet with everlasting joy.' 
So, again taking his leave of every one of them, 

- charging them to be content with his departure, he 
lay down, and in a little time departed this life. 

He was convinced in 1652, and died 1656, being 
aged about Fifty-two years. 



24 PIETY PROMOTED. 

"WILLIAM ROBINSON, of London, merchant, 
* * and Marmaduke Stevenson, of Yorkshire, hus- 
bandman, both suffered martyrdom for their obedience 
to God, in bearing their testimony to his blessed truth 
in New England, on the 27th of the Eighth month, 
i6>q. 

When they were brought before the court of Bos- 
ton in New England, on the 20th of the said month, 
the governor said to them, * We have made laws, 

* and endeavoured several ways to keep ye from 
( us, and neither whipping, nor imprisonments, nor 
1 cutting off ears, nor banishment upon pain of death, 

* will keep ye from among us. Give ear, and hearken 
' to your sentence : You shall go to the place from 
' whence you came, and from thence to the gallows, 

* and be hanged till you are dead.*' And accord- 
ingly the said William Robinson and Marmaduke 
Stevenson, with Mary Dyer, were taken out of prison; 
who having parted with their friends in prison, full 
of the joy of the Lord, who had counted them wor- 
thy to suffer for his name, and having embraced each 
other with fervency of love, and gladness of heart, 
in peace with God, were led to the place of execution 
the back way, lest their innocent sufferings should 
too much affect the people ; and when they attempted 
to speak, their cruel persecutors caused the drums to 
be beat to drown their voice. And one of their chief 
preachers, meeting the said sufferers going to be 
executed, said tauntingly, and shaking his head in a 
scoffing manner, * Shall such jacks as you come in 
4 before authority with your hats on ? ' To which 
William Robinson said to the people, ' Mind you, 

■ it is for not putting off our hats, that we are put to - 
'death/ And when he was upon the ladder, he 
spoke to the people thus : that they suffered not as 
evil-doers, but as those who testified and manifested 
the truth, and that this was the day of their visitation ; 
* New England weapons. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 25 

and therefore desired them to mind the light that was 
in them,' which was the Light of Christ ; of which 
they testified, and were now going to seal it with 
their blood. So the executioner put William Robinson 
to death, and afterwards Marmaduke Stevenson, who 
both of them died full of the joy of the Lord, and 
stood fast in him, sealing their testimony with their 
blood, their countenances not changing when the 
halters were about their necks. And their enemies 
not permitting their bodies to be taken down, cut 
them down, and the fall broke the skull of William 
Robinson, and with their knives they ripped off their 
shirts, and dragged their naked bodies into a hole, 
not suffering their friends to take them away and 
bury them \ and afterwards when a friend brought 
pales to inclose the ground, that the brute beasts 
might not prey on their bodies, it was denied him ; 
and their bodies were left in a pit in the open field, 
which was soon covered with water. 

Here follows a copy of William Robinson's paper, 
offered to the court, before he was sentenced to 
death, concerning their coming into those parts, 
for which they were put t-o death j which was 
denied by the governor to be read. 

' On the 8th day of the Eighth month, i6cq, in 
f the after part of the day, in travelling betwixt 

* Newport in Rhode Island and Daniel Cold's house, 

5 with my dear brother Christopher Holder^ the word 
j of the Lord came expressly to me, which did fill 

6 me immediately with life and power, and heavenly 

* love, by which he constrained me, and commanded 
' me. to pass to the town of Bos r on, my life to lay 
' down in his will, for the accomplishing of hi" 

* service, that he had there to perform at the " P 
< appointed. To which heavenly voice I $'■£?*' ir 

* yielded obedience, not questioning the 7 ^a'^k-*. ^ 

Vol. I. B ~° ul now 



26 PIETY PROMOTED, 

* he would bring the thing to pass, being I was a 
4 child, and obedience was demanded of me by the 

* Lord, who filled me with living strength and power 

* from his heavenly presence, which at that time did 
i mightily overshadow me, and my life at that time 
1 did say amen to what the Lord required of me, and 
4 had commanded me to do, and willingly I was 
1 given up from that time to this day, the will of the 
c Lord to do and perform, whatever became of my 
4 body : for the Lord had said unto me, My soul 

* shall live in everlasting peace, and my life shall 
1 enter into rest, for being obedient to the God of 
4 my life. I being a child, and durst not question 
1 the Lord in the least, but rather willing to lay 

* down my life, than to bring dishonour to the Lord : 

* and as the Lord made me willing, dealing gently 
1 and kindly with me, as a tender father by a faithful 
1 chi«d whom he tenderly loves, so the Lord did deal 
' with me, in ministering his life unto me, which 
4 gave ami gives me strength to perform what the 
1 Lord required of me ; and still as I did, and do 
c stand in need, he ministered and ministercth more 
4 strength and virtue, and heavenly power and wis- 

* i!om, whereby I was and am made strong in God, 
' not fearing what man shall be suffered to do unto 
' me, being filled with heavenly courage, which is 
' meekness and innocence, for the cause is the Lord's 
4 that we go in, and the battle is the Lord's; and 
c thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the mighty and the 
' terrible God, " Not by strength, nor by might, nor 
" by power of man, but by my Spirit/' saith the Lord 
*' of Hosts, I will perform what my mouth hath 
" spoken, through my servants, whom I have chosen, 
<f mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth." Friends, 
1 the God of my life, and the God of the whole earth, 
.* did lay this thing upon me, for which 1 now suffer 
6 ^ n /ids near unto death. He, by his Almighty power, 

* and e Toasting l° ve > constrained me, and laid this 



PIETY PROMOTED. 27 

6 thing upon me, and truly I could not deny the 
' Lord, much less resist the Holy One of Israel. 
1 Therefore all who are ignorant of the motion of 

* the Lord in the inward parts, be not hasty in 
' judging in this matter, lest ye speak evil of the 

* thing ye know not : but of a truth, the Lord God 
' of heaven and earth commanded me by his spirit, 

* and spake unto me by his Son, whom he hath made 
1 heir of all things, and in his life I live, and in it I 

* shall depart this earthly tabernacle, if unmerciful 
' men be suffered to take it from me. And herein I 

* rejoice, that the Lord is with me, the Ancient of 

* Days, the Life of the suffering Seed, for which I 
' am freely given up, and singly do I stand in the 
'will of God*, for to me to live is Christ, and to 

* die is gain: and truly I have great desire and will 
' herein, knowing that the Lord is with me, whatever 
' ignorant men shall be able to say again: t me ; for 

* the witness of the spirit I have received, and the 

* presence of the Lord and his heavenly life "doth 

* accompany me, so' that I can say in truth, and from 

* an upright heart, Blessed be the Lord God of my 
c life, who hath counted me worthy, and called ma 

* hereunto, to bear my testimony against ungodly and 
' unrighteous men, who seek to take away the life 
'of the righteous without a cause, as the rulers of 
' Massachusetts Bay do intend* if the Lord stop them 
' not from their intent. Oh ! hear ye rulers, and give 
' ear and listen, all ye that have any hand herein to 

* put the innocent to death, for in the name, and 
' fear, and dread of the Lord God, I here declare the 
' cause of my staying here amongst you, and eonti- 

* nuing in the jurisdiction after there was a sentence 
' of banishment upon pain of death, as ye said, pro» 
' nounced against me without a just cause, as ye all 
' know, that we that were banished committed no- 

* thing worthy of banishment, nor of any punishments 
4 much less banishment upon pain of death. And 

B2 



28 PIETY PROMOTED. 

' now, ye rulers, ye do intend to put me to death, 
c and my companion, unto whom the word of the 
' Lord came, spying, Go to Boston with thy brother 

* William Robinson: unto which command he was 

* obedient, who had said unto him, he had a great 
1 work for him to do. .Which thing is now seen, 
{ and the Lord is now a doing it; and it is in obedience 
' to the Lord, the God of the whole earth, that we 

* continued amongst you, and that we came to the 
c town of Boston again, in obedience to the Lord, the 

* Creator of heaven and earth, in whose hand your 
1 breath is ; and will ye put us to death for obeying 

* the Lord, the God of the whole earth ? Well, if ye 

* do this act, and put us to death, know this, and be 
' it known unto )ou all, ye rulers and people within 
'this jurisdiction, that whosoever hath an hand 
1 therein, will be guilty of innocent blood : and not 
4 only upon your selves will ye bring innocent blood, 
4 but upon the town, and the inhabitants thereof, and 

* every where within this jurisdiction, that had the 
4 le.i:>t hand therein. Therefore be instructed, ye 

* rulers of this land, and take warning betimes, and 

* learn wisdom, before it be hid from your eyes.' 

* Written in the common goal the 19th of the 
4 Eighth Month, 1659, in Boston, by one who 
4 feareth the Lord, who is by ignorant people 

* called a Quaker, and unto such am I only 

* known by the name of V\ illiam Robinson, 
4 yet a new name have I received, which such 
' know not.' 

Here followeth a copy of Marmaduke Stevenson's 
paper of his call to the work and service of the Lord, 
given forth by him a little before he was put to 
death, and after he had received his sentence. 

1 In the beginning of the year 1655, I was at the 
c plough in the east parts of Yorkshire, in old Eng- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 2*> 

land, near the place where my outward being was, 
and as I walked after the plough; I was filled with 
the love and presence of the living God, which did 
ravish my heart wh^n I felt it ; for it did increase 
and abound in me like a living stream, so did the 
life and love of God run through me like a precious 
ointment giving a pleasant smell, which made me 
to stand still : and as I stood a little still, with my 
heart and mind stayed upon the Lord, the word of 
the Lord came to rne in a still small voice, which 
1 did hear perfectly, saying to me, in the secret of 
my heart and conscience, I have ordained thee a 
prophet unto the nations *, and at the hearing of 
the word of the Lord I was put to a stand, seeing 
that I was but a child for such a weighty matter. 
So at the time appointed, Barbadoes was set be* 
fore me, unto which I was required of the Lord 
to go, and leave my dear and loving wife and 
tender children ; for the Lord said unto me, im- 
mediately by his Spirit, that he would be as an 
husband to my wife, and as a father to my child- 
ren, and they should not want in my absence, for 
he would provide for them when I was gone. 
And I believed the Lord would perform what he 
had spoken, because I was made willing to give 
up myself to his work and service, to leave all, 
and follow him, whose presence and life is ,with 
me, where I rest in peace and quietness of spirit 
(with my dear brother) under the shadow of his 
wings, who hath made us willing to lay down our 
lives for his name's sake, if unmerciful men be 
suffered to take them from us ; and if they do, we 
know we shall have peace and rest with the Lord 
for ever in his holy habitation, when they shall 
have torment night and day. So in obedience to 
the living God, I made preparation to pass to Bar- 
badoes in the Fourth month, 1658. So after some 
time that I had been on the said island in the 



30 PIETY PROMOTED. 

c soi vice of God, I heard that New England had 

* made a law to put the servants of the living God 

* to death, if they returned after they were sentenced 
' away, which did come near me at that time; and 
' as I considered the thing, and pondered it in my 

* heart, immediately came the word of the Lord unto 
' me, saying, * Thou knowest not but thou mayst 
4 go thither : ' but I kept this word in my heart, and 
4 did not declare it to any until the time appointed. 

* So aft r that a vessel was got ready for Rhode 

uid, which I passed in. So after a little time 

* that I had been there, visiting the seed which the 
< Lord had blessed, the word of the Lord came to 

* me, saying, * Go to Burton with thy brother 
1 William Robinson;' and at his command I was 

iient, and gave up to his will, that so his work 
1 and service may be uccomn'ished : for he had said 
1 unto nir, that he had a great work for me to do, 

* which is now come to pass. And for yielding 

* obedience to, and for obeying the voice and com- 

* mand of the Everlasting God, which created heaven 
4 and earth, and the fountains of waters, do I, with 

* my dear brother, suffer outward bonds, near unto 
4 death. And this is given forth to be upon record, 
4 that all people may know who hear it, that we 

* came not in our own wills, but in the will of God/ 

* Given forth by me, who am known to men by 
' the name of Marmaduke Stevenson; but have 

* a new name given me, which the world knows 

* not of, written in the Book of Life.' 



Written in Boston Prison, ia 
the Eighth Month, 1659. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 31 

IV/TARY DYER, a faithful woman, fearing God, 
■*- v*- the wife of an husband of good estate in Rhode 
Island, and mother of several children, was also cor- 
demned to death at the same time, with William 
Robinson and Mar ma duke Stevenson; who when she 
received the sentence, that she should be hanged at 
the place of execution till she was dead replied, 

* The will of the Lord be done.' Then the governor 
saying, take her away, she answered, * Yea, joyfully 
1 shall I go:' and was led to the place of execution 
between her two fellow-sufferers, William Robinson 
and Marmaduke Stevenson : and one of her enemies 
upbraiding her therewith, she replied, { It is the 

* greatest joy and honour I can enjoy in this world :' 
adding these words, ' No eye can see, no ear can' hear, 

* no tongue can speak, no heart can understand, the 

* sweet incomes and refreshings of the spirit of the 

* Lord which I now enjoy.' And having seen her 
two friends die before her face, and giving up herself 
to die also, her hands and feet being tied, and her 
face covered, with the-halter about her neck, and was 
even with the Lord in joy and peace, an order came 
for her reprieve, upon the petition of her son ; which 
being read, and the halter taken off, and she loosed, 
was desired to come down ; but she tarrying to wait 
upon the Lord to know his mind, they pulled her 
down with the ladder, and had her to prison, and 
next morning she was carried out of the country 
towards Rhode Island. And as a lively testimony 
of the virtue of truth, which can look death in the 
face, and be a record to future generations, how 
truth hath conquered in a woman, is here inserted 
Mary Dyer's letter, which she writ the day after her 
reprieve, as followeth. 

c The 28th of the Eighth month, 1659, 

* Once more to the general court assembled in 
f Boston, speaks Mary Dyer, even as before ; my life 
B 4 



32 PI2TY PROMOTED. 

' is not accepted, neither availeth mc, in comparison 
1 ot the lives and liberty of the truth and servants of 

* the living God, for which, in the bowels of love 
4 and meekness I sought you \ yet nevertheless, with 

* wicked hands have you put two of them to death, 

* which makes me to feel, that the mercies of the 
1 wicked are crueltv. I rather cliu.se to die than 
' to live, as from you, as guilty of their innocent 
' blood. Therefore, seeing my request is hindered, 
' I leave you to the righteous Judge and searcher of 

* all 1 with the nure measure of light he 
' hath given every man to profit withal, will in his 

ise servants you are, and 
'of whom ye have I msel, which . 1 desire 

* you to search into; but all his counsel hath been 

, ,:il v iu would none of his reproofs.* 
, for verily the night cometh on 

* you apace, whereiri no man can work, in which 
4 v iu .--! a suredly fall to your own master. In 
1 i dience to the Lord, whom I serve with my 
4 spirit, and pity to your souls, which you neither 

* know nor pity, I can do no less than once more 

* to warn you to put away the evil of your doings, 

* and ! it in you, before his wrath 

* be kindled in you ; for where it is, nothing without 
1 you can help or deliver you out of his hand at all, 
1 and if these things be not so, then say, there hath 

* been no prophet from the Lord amongst you : 

* though we be nothing, yet it is his pleasure, by 

* things that are not, to bring to nought things that 
' are. 

* When I heard your last order read, it was a 

* disturbance unto me, that was so freely offering 
' up my. life to him that gave it me, and sent me 
' hiuher so to do ; which obedience being his own 
' work, he gloriously accompanied with hib presence, 

* Prov. i. 24 to 32, 



PIETY PROMOTEI - 33 

' and peace, and love in me, in which I rested from 
-* my labour, till by your order and the people I 

* was so far disturbed, that I could not retain any 
1 more of the v/ords thereof, than that I should 
' return to prison and there remain forty and eight 

* hours, to which I submitted, rinding nothing from 
' the Lord to the contrary, that I may know what 
' his pleasure and counsel is concerning me, on 
' whom I wait therefore, for he is my life, and 

* length of my days, and as I said before, I came 

* at his command, and go at his command. 

* Mary Dyer.* 

Mary Dyer being thus freed as aforesaid, returned 
to Rhode Island, where her husband and children 
dwelt, and after some stay with them, she went 
towards Long Island, and was at Shelter Island^and 
had good service for the Lord ; where she -thought- 
she might pass home to Rhode Island, but she was: 
moved of the Lord to return to Boston again, and 
she came thither on the 21st of the Third month, 
1660, aud_ on the 31st of the same, she was sent for 
to the general court, where the governor said to her,, 

* Are you the same Mary Dyer that was here, the last: 
( general sessions ? 

M. Dyer. lam the same Mary Dver. 

Gov. You will own yourself a Quaker, willyou not V 

M.Dyer. Town myself to be so reproachfully called. 

Governor. The sentence was passed upon you the 
last general court, and now likewise j.you.must return 
to the prison from whence you came, and there re- 
main till' to-morrow at nine o'clock, then from thence 
you must go to the gallows, and there be hanged till. 
ycu are dead'. 

M. Dyer. This is no more than what thou saidst 
before. 

Governor. And now it is to be executed, therefore.*- 
prepare yourself to-morrow at nine o'clock. 

B5 



34- PIETY PROMOTED. 

M. Dyer. I came in obedience to the will of God 
the lairt general court, desiring you to repeal your 
unrighteous laws of banishment upon pain of death, 
and that same is my work now, and earnest request, 
because you refused before to grant me my request; 
although I told you, that if you refused to repeal them, 
the Lord would send other of his servants to witness 
ag.;:nst them. 

Governor. Are you a prophet ? 

M. Dyer. I spoke the words that the Lord spake 
in me. And beginning to speak of the call of the 
Lord to her, the governor said, s Away with her, 
* away with her.' So she was had to prison, and kept 
close till the next day at the ninth hour, when the 
marshal called hastily for her; to whom she mildly 
replied, * Stay a little, I shall be ready presently ' y * 
but he cruelly replied, he could not wait upon her, &c. 
So he had her away with a company of soldiers, beat- 
ing a drum before and behind, that they might not 
hear her speak ; and being upon the ladder at the 
place of execution, some said to her, if she would 
return, she might save herself. 

M. Dyer. Nay, I cannot ; for in obedience to 
the will of the Lord God I came, and in his will 
I abide faithful unto death. 

A priest calied out to her, * Mary Dyer, O re- 
pent, repent.' 

M. Dyer. Nay, man, I am not now to repent. 

One said that she should say that she had been 
in paradise. 

M. Dyer. Yes, I have been in paradise several 
days. And more she spoke concerning her eternal 
happiness. So, sweetly and cheerfully in the Lord 
she finished her testimony, and died a faithful martyr 
of Jesus Christ, the ist of the Fourth month, 1660. 

See New England judged; containing an account of the per- 
secutions and martyrdoms of the people called Quakers. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 35 

Here followeth the copy of a letter that Mary Dyer 
sent to the rulers of Boston, after she had received 
sentence of death. 

* To the General Court in Boston. 

' Whereas I am by many charged with guiltiness 

* of my own blood : if you mean in my coming to 
•Boston, I am therein clear, and justified by the 

* Lord, in whose will I came, who will require my 

* blood of you be sure, who have made a law to take 
' away the lives of the innocent servants of God, 
' if they come among you, who are called by you 

* cursed Quakers ; although I say, and am a living 
' witness for them, and the Lord, that he hath blessed 
' them, and sent them unto you. Therefore be not 

* found fighters against God, but let my counsel and 

* request be accepted with you, to repeal all such 

* laws, that the truth and servants of the Lord may 

* have free passage amongst you, and you be kept 

* from shedding innocent blood, which I know there 
1 are many among you would not do, if they knew it 
' so to be : nor can the enemy, that stirreth you up 
' thus to destroy this holy seed, in any measure 
4 countervail the great damage that you will by thus 
' doing procure : therefore, seeing the Lord hath not 
' hid it- from me, it lieth upon me, in love to your 
' souls, thus to persuade you : I have no self-ends, 
''the Lord knoweth, for if my life were freely 
' granted by you, it would not avail me,- nor could 

* I expect it of you, so long as I should daily hear 
' or see 'tke sufferings of these people, my dear 
' brethren, and seed, with, whom my life is bound 
' up, as I have done these two years *, and now it 
' is like to increase even unto death, for no evil 
6 doing, but coming among you. Was ever the like 

* laws heard of among a people that profess Christ 
' come in the flesh ? and have such no other wea» 

36 



3 6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

c pons, but such laws to fight with against spiritual 
c wickedness, as you call it ? woe is me for you ! 
4 of whom take you counsel ? search with the light 
1 of Christ in you, and it will shew you of whom, 
c as it hath done me. and many more, who have 
' been disobedient and deceived, as now you are ; 
i which light, as you come Into, and obey what is 
4 made manifest to you therein, you will not repent 
*■ that you were kept from shedding blood, though 

* by a woman. It is not mine own life I seek, (for 

* I chuse rather to suffer with the people of God, 
' than to enjoy the pleasures of Egypt) but the life 

* of the seed, which I know the Lord hath blessed j 

* and therefore seeks the enemy thus vehemently 

* the life thereof to destroy, as in all ages he ever 
' did. Oh ! hearken not unto him, I beseech you, 

* for .the the seed's sake, which is one in all, and 

* is dear in the sight of God, which they that touch, 
' touch the apple of his eye, and cannot escape his 

* wrath ; whereof I having felt, cannot but persuade 
1 all men that I have to do withal, especially you, 
1 who name the name of Christ, to depart from such 
' iniquity, as shedding blood, even of the saints of 

* the Most High. Therefore let my request have 

* as much acceptance with you, if you be Christians, 
4 as Esther's had with Ahasuerus, whose relation is 
' short of that that is between Christians, and my 

* request is the same that hcr's was*, and he said 

* not that he had made a law, and it would be dis- 

* honourable for him to revoke it ; but when he 

* understood that these people were to prized by 

* her (as in truth these are to me) you may see what 
' he did for her. Therefore I leave these lines with 

* you, appealing to the faithful and true witness of 

* God, which is one in ail consciences, before whom 

* we must all appear, with whom I shall eternally 
' rest, in everlasting joy and peace, whether you 

* will hear or forbear ; with him is my reward, with 



PIETY PROMOTED. 37 

f wliom to live is my joy, and to die is my gain, 
8 though I had not had your forty-eight hours warn- 
' ing, for the preparation to the death of Mary Dyer. 
c And know this also, that if through the enmity 
1 you shall declare yourselves worse than Ahasuerus, 

* and confirm your lav/, though it be but the taking 

* away the life of but one of us, that the Lord will 
' overthrow both your law and you by his righteous 
' judgments and plagues poured justly upon you, 
1 who now, whilst you are warned thereof, and 
c tenderly sought unto, may avoid the one by re- 

* moving the other. If you neither hear, nor obey 

* the Lord nor his servants, yet will he send more 

* of his servants among you, so that your ends shall 

* be frustrated, that think to restrain them you call 
' cursed Quakers, from coming among you, by any 

* thing you can do to them % yea, verily, he hath a 

* seed here among you, from whom we have suffered 
( all this while, and yet suffer, whom the Lord of the 
6 harvest will send forth more labourers to gather 

* (out of the mouths of the devourers of all sorts) 
8 into his fold, where he will lead them into fresh 

* pastures, even the paths of righteousness, for his 
8 name's sake. Oh ! let none of you put this day far 
8 from you, which, verily, in the light of the Lord 5 

* I see approaching even to many in and about 
8 Boston, which is the bitterest and darkest pro- 

* fessing place, and so to continue so long as you 
8 have done, that ever I heard of; let the time past 

* therefore suffice for such a profession as brings 
8 forth such fruits as these laws are. In love and 

* in the spirit of meekness I again beseech you, "for 
8 I have' no enmity to the persons of any ; but you. 
' shall know that God will not be mocked, but what 
8 you sow, that shall ye reap from him, that will 
1 render to every one according to the deeds done in 

* the body, whether good or evil 5 even so be it, saith 

8 Mary Dyer.* 



3 8 PIETY PROMOTED. 

YlflLLIAM LEDDRA, an inhabitant of the 

* island of Barbndoes, who came also into the 
jurisdiction of bloody Boston in New England, to visit 
his friend who lay under great Sufferings in prison, 
was himself cast into prison, and locked in chains, 
with a log of wood tied to him, lying down and rising 
up with the same, during a miserable cold winter, in 
an open prison, till the First month, 1661, when he 
was brought to the court at Boston with his chains 
and log at his heels. The court told him that he was 
found guiity, and was to die. 

"VV. Leddra asked what evil he had done. 

The court replied that his own confession was as 
good as a thousand witnesses. 

W. Leddra. What was that ? 

The court answered, that he had owned, that those 
who were put to death, (viz. William Robinson, 
Marmaduke Stevenson, and Mary Dyer) were in- 
nocent for which they died ; and that he would not 
put off his hat in court, and that he would say thee 
and thou to the magistrates. 

W. Leddra. Then you put me to death for speaking 
English, and for not putting off my cloaths. 

After some more words they prouounced sentence 
of death upon him, and on the 14th of the First month, 
1 66 1, they knocked off his chains, and he took his 
leave of his fellow-prisoners in most tender love, led 
as a sheep to the slaughter, in the meekness of the 
spirit of Jesus, resigned up in the will of God to seal 
the truth of the testimony he had borne, with his 
blood ; so, being encompassed with the guards, and 
as he was about to ascend the ladder, he said, ' All 

* that will be Christ's disciples must take up the cross." 
And standing where the guards ordered him, with an 
exceeding fresh living countenance he spoke to the 
people, and said, * For bearing my testimony for the 

* Lord against deceit, and the deceived, am I brought 
? here to suffer:' which much affected the people. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 39 

And as the executioner was putting the halter about 
his neck, in the meekness and sense of Christ Jesus 
he said, ' I commit my cause to thee, O God.' And 
just at turning off the ladder he called out, * Lord 
4 Jesus receive my spirit.' 

An Epistle of William Leddra, to Friends, written 
by him the day before he was put to death. 

' To the society of the little flock of Christ, grace 
4 and peace he multiplied. 

• Most dear and inwardly beloved ! 

* The sweet influences of the morning star, like a 
4 flood, distilling into my innocent habitation, hath so 

* filled me with the joy of the Lord in the beauty of 
4 holiness, that my spirit is as if it did not inhabit a 

* tabernacle of clay, but is wholly swallowed up in the 

* bosom of eternity, from whence it had its being. 

4 Alas ! alas ! what can the wrath and spirit of man 
4 that lusteth to envy, aggravated by the heat and 
4 strength of the king of the locusts, which came 

* out of the pit, do unto one that is hid in the secrets 

* of the Almighty ? or unto them that are gathered 

* under the healing wings of the prince of peace ? 
4 under whose armour of light they shall be able to 

* stand in the day of trial, having on the breast-plate 
4 of righteousness, and the sword of the spirit, which 
4 is their weapon of war against spiritual wickedness, 
J principalities and powers, and the rulers of the 
4 darkness of this world, both within and without. 
4 O my beloved, I have waited like a clove at the 
4 windows of the arlr, and have stood still in that 
4 watch, which the master, without whom I could do 
4 nothing, did at his coming reward with the fulness 
4 of his love, wherein my heart did rejoice, that I 
4 might in the love and life of God speak a few 
J words to you, sealed with the spirit of promise^ 



40 PIETY PROMOTED. 

* trrt the taste thereof might be a savour of life to 
4 your life, and a testimony in you of my innocent 

* death. And if I had been altogether silent, and the 
4 Lord had not opened my mouth unto you, yet he 
1 would have opened your hearts, and there have 
4 scaled my innocence with the streams of life, by 
4 which we are all baptized into that body which is 
4 of God, with whom and in whose presence there is 
4 life, in which, as you abide, you stand upon the 

* pillar and ground of truth : for the life being the 
4 truth and* the vvay, go not one step without it, lest 
4 you should compass a mountain in the wilderness *, 

* tor unto every thing there is a season. As the 
4 flowing of the ocean doth fill every creek and branch 
4 thereof, and then retires agajn towards its own being 
4 and fulness, and leaves a savour behind it ; so doth 
4 the life and virtue of God How into every one of 
4 your hearts, whom he hath made partakers of his 

* divine nature •, and when it withdraws but a little, 
1 it leaves a sweet savour behind it, that many can 
4 say, they are made clean through the v/ord that he 

* hath spoken to them. In winch innocent condition. 
4 you may see what you are in the presence of God, 

* and what you are without him. Therefore, my 
4 dear hearts, let the enjoyment of the life alone be 

* your hope, your joy and consolation, and let the 
4 man of God flee those things that would lead the 
4 mind out of the cross, for then the savour of life 
4 will be buried : and though some may speak of 

* things, that they received in the life, as experiences, 
4 yet the life being veiled, and the savour of it left 
4 behind, washed away by the fresh flood of tempta- 
4 tion, the condition that they did enjoy in the life, 
4 boasted of by the airy thing, will be like the manna 
4 that was gathered yesterday, without any good scent 
4 or savour : for it was only well with the man while 
4 he was in the life of innocency, but being driven 
4 from the presence of die Lord into the earth, what 



.PIETY PROMOTED. 4* 

c can he boast of? and although you know these 

* things, and many of you much more than I can say, 

* yet for the love and zeal I bear to the truth, and 

* honour of God, and tender desire of my soul to those 
' that are young, that they may read me hi that from 
' which I write, to strengthen them against the wiles 

* of the subtle serpent that beguied Eve. I say, 
' stand in the watch within, in the fear of the Lord, 

* which is the very entrance of wisdom, and the state 
' wherein vou are ready to receive the secrets of the 

' ^Lord. Hunger and thirst patiently,. be not weary, 

* neither doubt, stand still, and cease from thine own 
' working, and in due time thou shalt enter into the 

* rest, and thy eyes shall behold his salvation, whose 

* testimonies are sure, and righteous altogether : let 
' them be as a seal upon thine arm, and as jewels 
' about thy neck, that others may see what the Lord 
' has done for your souls : confess him before men, 

* yea, before his greatest enemies j fear not what they 
' can do unto you : greater is he that is in you, than 

_ ''he that is in the world : for he will clothe you with 

* humility, and in the power of his meekness v you 
' shall reign over all the rage of your enemies in the 

* favour of God, wherein, as you stand in faith, ye 
' are the salt of the earth, for many seeing your good 
c works, may glorify God in the day of their visitation. 
c Take heed of receiving that which you saw not in 
' the %ht, lest you give ear to the enemy. Bring a 1 ! 
' things to the light, that they may be proved whether 

* thev are wrought in God. The love of the world, 
' the hist of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, are 
1 without the light, in the world ; therefore possess 
c your vessels in all sanctification and honour, and 
f let your eye look at the mark: he that hath called 
' you is holy : and if there be an eye that offends, 
1 pluck it out, and cast it from you : let not a tempta- 
c tion take hold, for if you do, it will keep you from 

* the favour of God, and that will be a sad state, for 



42 PIETY PROMOTED. 

1 without grace possessed, ^he- n is no assurance of 
1 sjlvation : by grace ye are saved, and the wit- 
' nessing of it is su.licicnt for you, to which I com- 
' mend you all, my dear friends, and in it remain 
* your brother, 

c William Lf.ddra.' 

Boston goal, 13th of First month, lCGO-1. 



nPHOMAS FORSTER, of London, was con- 
A Vinced about the year 1658, and thereupon for- 
sook much of this world's gain and preferment for 
the sake of Christ, (he then belonging to the civil 
law) and w-is in his life time freely given up to serve 
die Lord with body, soul and whole substance, that 
he might run the race and keep the truth ; which 
made him willing to deny himself, and take up the 
daily cross for Christ's sake, that he might be truly 
wise. He fores iw, several years before it happened, 
that the city of London should be destroyed ; and 
his wife and family, at his admonition, removed into 
the out parts, and by that means escaped the judg- 
ment which afterwards came to pass upon the city, 
when it was burned by fire in the year 1666. — 
And he also foretold of the sufferings which God's 
people have since been tried with, saying, ' The 
'holy city will be besieged; but blessed are they 
4 who keep in the faith, for the time of deliverance 
' will assuredly come,' &c. And a little before his 
departure out of this world, he said, ' Ah ! friends, 
• abide in God's pure holy truth all the day long, 
' and you shall see the rising of his glory.' 

So he finished his course, and fell asleep, in the 
year 1660. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 43 

T3ICHARD HUBBERTHORN was born in the 
•% - north part of Lancabhire ; his father was a yeo- 
man of the county, and of good repute. Richard 
was his only son, inclinable from his youth to re- 
ligion, fearing the Lord-, and was faithful in all 
things according to the light and knowledge receiv- 
ed ; his natural disposition was meek and lowly, and 
he loved peace among men, and he sometimes 
preached among his sober and sincere companions. 

When it pleased God to raise up his people in 
the north parts of England, this same person was 
one among the first whose heart the Lord touched 
with the sense of his power, and he went through 
great afflictions, through the dispensation of the 
grace and spirit of Christ Jesus, until such time as 
the same power that killed did make alive - s as 
wounded, also healed ; and being raised up by the 
holy spirit of the Lord, he was made a minister of 
the everlasting gospel, and accordingly went forth 
in the name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and travelled to and fro the nation for the space of 
nine years ; and thousands were as seals to the power 
and verity of his ministry, and of his faithfulness 
among the churches of Christ. 

He was a man of small stature, of a weak consti- 
tution of body, and though slow of speech, yet he 
was very wise, and knew his season when to speak, 
and when to be silent : when he spoke, it was with 
such discretion and plainness of words, that reached 
perfectly the matter intended j and his speech being 
with grace, and his ministry savoury, God made him 
and his service a blessing to many : he was not 
easily moved into grief by adversity, or into joy by 
prosperity ; a faithful contender for the living faith 
once delivered to the saints, which stands in the 
power of God, and worketh by love. 

He was, with many others of the people called 
Quakers, taken from the Bull and Mouth meeting- 



44 PIETY PROMOTED. 

house in London, and had before Sir Richard Brown, 
who with his own hands did violence to him, and 
then committed him to Newgate, where being throng- 
ed up in a nasty prison, he was taken sick, and in 
a few days grew weaker and weaker 1 . 

About two days before his decease, some of his 
dea r est friends visiting him, asked if any thing was 
on his mind ; his an wer was, that there was no 
matters, he knew the ground of his 
I forever in his re.i-e with 
the Lord ; and we knew, said he, one another well, 
and v. of u^ can -ay about thefle things. 

And during his sickness he express I much love to 
friends ; and his mind was redeemed out of all visible 
things; and several times he would say, 4 The word 
•of the Lord is with me:' and Farther said, * That 

* faith which hath wrought my salvation I well know, 
' and h ive grounded satisfaction in it.' In the time 
of his sickness, he was kept feeding in retiredness 
within, so that one might feel his strength in the 

I that kepi him so still, that it was not remem- 
h red that he groaned all the time of his sickness. 
C) I the seventh day in the morning he asked for the 
mistress of the house, and said, * This night, or 
4 to-morrow, I shall depart hence.' And the next 
morning he said to one sitting by him, * Do not 

* seek to hoid me, for it is too strait for me ; and 
' out of this straightftess I must go, for I am wound 
' into largeness, and am to be lilted up on high, far 
' above all:' so in the evening, being the first day 
of th- week, and the 17th of the Sixth month, 1662, 
he finished his cour e, accord ng to his own words, 
and was gathered up to his Father. 

He wrote many treatises, which are collected 
together in print. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 45 

PDWARD BURROUGH, born in the county 
-*- J of Westmoreland, about the year 1635, of honest 
parents, was in his childhood ripe of knowledge, and 
did far excel many of his years : grey hairs were 
upon him when but a youth, and he was inclinable 
to the best things, and the nearest way of worship 
according to the scriptures, accompanying the best 
men : his natural disposition was bold and manly, 
dextrous and fervent, and what he took in hand, he 
did with his might : loving, courteous, merciful, and 
easy to be intreated \ he delighted in conference, 
and reading of the holy scriptures. 

When it pleased God to visit his people in the 
north of England, this servant of Christ w;as early 
called, viz. in the year 1652, when about seventeen 
years of 2ge ; and he was sent forth by the Spirit of 
the Lord to preach the everlasting gospel, repentance, 
conversion, salvation, and remission of sins, in the 
name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sa- 
viour of mankind ; and was an able minister of the 
glad tidings of salvation in most parts of England, 
and through Ireland several times, and in Scotland 
and Flanders; and his ministry was made effectual 
by the mighty power of God, in turning many 
thousands from darkness to light j for as he began 
early, so he laboured much in. the heat of the day, 
breaking up rough places, and untilled ground, and 
often walked a^ it were among briars ?.nd thorns, 
. which scratched, pricked, and tore with gre. t op- 
position ; but he broke through them ail, not re- 
garding the opposition, and the sufferings that he 
met with for the good of souls : his industry in the 
Lord's work was very great, he seldom having many 
hours repose, making the Lord's work his whole 
business, not taking so much liberty as to spend one 
week to himself, about any outward occasion, in ten 
years-, and it was his grief if any opportunity was 
missed in doing good : he was a man of no great 



46 PIETY PROMOTED. 

learning, which men so much admire, yet he had the 
tongue of the learned, having had experience of the 
work of God in many conditions, so that he could 
speak a word in due season, to the understandings 
and consciences of all men with whom he had con- 
verse, for his words administered grace to the hearer. 
At the age of nineteen, in the year 1654, he came 
up to London, and was one of the first who preached 
in that city, and great opposition he met with there ; 
but God made his ministry effectual to the conversion 
of hundreds: he continued about London very much, 
at times, beiween eight and nine years, speaking of 
the things of the kingdom of God. His heart was 
much drawn towards London, and he often said, 
when sufferings came for the gospel sake, ' I can 

* freely go to that city, (i. e. London) and lay down 
' my life for a testimony of that truth which I have 
1 declared through the power and spirit of God.* 

In the year 1062, visiting friends in the city of 
Bri tolj he took liis leave, and said to manv, ' I am 

* going up to the city of London, to suffer among 
4 friends in that place.' And a little after his return 
to the said city, he was taken from a meeting of the- 
people called Quakers, at the Bull and Mouth meet- 
ing-house, by soldiers under the command of Sir 
Richard Brown, mayor, and committed to Newgate 
by the said mayor, not for evil doing, but for testi- 
fying to the name of the Lord Jesus, and for the 
worship of God *, and there lay in prison with six or 
seven score friends more, upon the same account, 
many of them being shut up among felons in nasty 
places, and for want of prison-room they grew weak, 
sickened, and died, among which this young man 
was one •, his sickness increasing upon him daily, 
still in much patience he was carried through all. 

He was in prayer often both day and night, saying 
at one time, * I have had a testimony of the Lord's 

* love to me from my youth, and my heart hath 



PIETY PROMOTED. 47 

* been given up to do his will ; I have preached the 

* gospel freely in this city, and have often given up 
4 my life for the gospel's sake: Lord> rip open my 
1 heart, and see if it be not right before thee/ — 
Another time he said, ' There lies no iniquity at my 
4 door ; but the presence of the Lord is with me, 
< and his life I feel justifies me.' Afterwards he 
said to the Lord, • Thou hast loved me when I was 
' in the womb, and I have loved thee from my 

* cradle, and from my youth unto this day, and have 
f served thee faithfully in my generation.' And he 
spoke to friends that were about him to live in love 
and peace, and love one another ; and said the Lord 
takes the righteous from the evil to come : and 
prayed for his enemies and persecutors, and said, 
' Lord, forgive Richard Brown who imprisoned me.' 
Again he said, * That though this body of clay must 

* turn to dust, yet I have this testimony, that I 

* have served God in my generation ; and that spirit 

* which hath lived, and acted, and ruled in me, shall 
' yet break forth in thousands.' And in the morning 
before he departed, being sensible of his death, he 
said, * Now my soul and spirit is entered in its own 
I being with God, and this form of person must 
1 return from whence it was taken.' And after a 
little season, he gave up the ghost, as a martyr for 
the word of God, and testimony of Jesus. 

He was born in 1635, began to preach 1652, and 
died 1662, of whose written labours there is a volume 
printed, containing almost nine hundred pages in 
folio. 



TJUMPHRY SMITH, of Little Cowrne, in the 

f^*-*- county of Hereford, formerly a -publick preacher, 
was convinced of truth .about the year 1655, and 
came to be an a^le minister of the gospel of Christ s 
which he freely preached, and turned many to righ« 



4 8 PIETY PROMOTED-. 

teousness, and gave forth many warnings and ex- 
hortations to the people, as may be seen at large in 
the printed collection of his works-, and the Lord 
shewed him in a vision, in the fifth month, 1660^ 
the destruction of the -city of London by fire, which 
was six years before it came to pass ; and which 
vision he published before hand, as a warning to the 
people to repent ; part whereof is as follows : 

Part of the vision of Humphry Smith, which he saw 
concerning the burning of the city of London, in 
the fifth month, 166?, which was three years before 
Ins decease, and six years before it was fulfilled. 

' And as for the city herself, and her suburbs, 
1 and all that belonged to her [I beheld] a fire was 

* kindled therein, but she knew not' how, even in 

* her goodly palaces, and the kindling of it was in 
4 the I n of her buildings, and there was 

* none could quench it, neit.her was there any able; 

* and the burning thereof was exceeding great, and 
4 burned inward in all hidden manner, which cannot 
' be expre the fire consumed foundations 
1 which the city Stood upon} and the tall buildings 

* fell, and it consumed all the lofty things therein, 
4 and the fire searched out all the hidden places, and 
' burned most in secret places, but the consumption 

* was exceeding great wherewith it was consumed. 

* And as I passed through her streets, I beheld 

* her state to be very miserable, and very few were 

* those that were left in her, who were but here 
4 and there one, and they feared not the fire, neither 
4 did the burnings hut them; but they were (and 
' walked) as mournful people, and the fire burned 

* every where, so that there was no escaping of it. 
1 And thus she became a desolation, and as an 
c astonishment; for the burning was suifered of God 

* for her chastisement, and could not be quenched 



PIETY PROMOTED. 49 

€ nor overcome : and there was none could stop the 

* flaming, and the fire consumed all things, both 

* stone and timber, and burned under all things, 

* and under all foundations, and that which was 

* lifted up above it fell down, and the fire con- 

* sumed it; and the flaming continued, though the 

* foundation was burnt up, and all the lofty part 

* brought down, (by the fire) yet there was" much 
4 old stuff, and part of broken desolate walls and 

* buildings in the midst, which the fire continued 

* burning against, and «that which was taken, as to 

* make use of, which yet escaped the fire, became 
4 useless in mens hands, as a thing of nought. And 
' the vision thereof remained in me, as a thing that 
4 was secretly shewed me of the Lord. 

c And new let her wise men find out the matter, 

* and her prudent men read, and her divines, so 
4 called, interpret the vision, and let every one look 
1 to their own ways/ 

This, with much more that Humphry Smith saw, 
was printed and published in the year 1660, as a 
warning whereby people might stand in the day of 
trial, and endure the hour of trouble. See it at 
large m his printed vision in the year 1660. 
- Besides other things which the Lord revealed to 
him, he had also a clear sight of his own sufferings, 
and death thereby : for about the year 1662, travel- 
ing among friends about London, he told some of 
them, that he had a narrow path to pass through : 
and said several times before he was taken up, he 
saw he should be imprisoned, and that it might cost 
him his life. ; and taking leave of his friends, he set 
forward, in the will of God, westward, and being 
in a meeting of the people called Quakers, at Alton, 
in Hampshire, he was taken from thence, and had 
before the two lieutenants of the county, who com- 
mitted him to the stinking close prison of Winches- 
ter, where, after a whole year's imprisonment, he 

Vol. I. C 



50 PIETY PROMOTED. 

fetl sick *, and in the time of his sickness lie spoke 
many precious words to friends about him, signify- 
ing that he was given up to the will of God, either 
in life or death. And as he lay under great illness, 
he said, * My heart is filled with the power of God :' 
and then said, ( It is good for a man at such a time 
c as this, to have the Lord to be his friend.' Another 
time he said, ' Lord, thou hast sent me forth to do 

* thy will, and I have been faithful unto thee in my 
f small measure, which thou hast committed unto 

* me ; but if thoa wilt yet uy me further, thy will 

* be done.' Also he said, ■ I am the Lord's, let 
4 him do what he wjll.' And near the time of his 
departure, he prayed earnestly, saying, * O Lord, 
4 hear the inward sighs and groans of thine oppres- 
c sed, and deliver my soul from the oppressor: hear 

* me, O Lord, uphold and preserve me. I know 

* that my Redeemer liveth : thou art strong and 
4 mighty, O Lord.' And prayed, that the Lord 
would deliver his people from their cruel oppres- 
sors j and for those who had been convinced by 
him, that the Lord would be their teacher. 

He lay quiet and still, sensible to the last moment, 
and died a prisoner for the truth in the common 
goal of Winchesters on the 4th of the Eighth month, 
in the year 1663. 



JOHN" AUDLAND was born in the county of 
** Westmoreland, near Cam's-gill, and when a 
child, he was ripe and quick of understanding ; 
about the eighteenth year of his age the Lord in- 
clined his heart towards himself, and he delighted 
in reading the scriptures, and having a large know- 
ledge and memory, could discourse of things re- 
lating to religion, and became an eminent preacher, 
r*ot only amongst the most strict sort of professors, 



PIETY PROMOTED. 51 

But sometimes also at chapels, and publick parish- 
places of worship, where great multitudes of people 
would flock after him. 

About the twentieth year of his age he married 
Anne Newby, of Kendal, belonging to the same 
religious meeting, (afterwards the wife of Thomas 
Camm, of Cam's-gill in Westmoreland.) This John 
Audland was one of those before mentioned, who 
was convinced the first time that he heard George 
Fox at Firbank chapel, and received him into his 
house ; and seeing the emptiness of his own high- 
flown notions and profession in religion, he sat down 
in silence and astonishment, like Job, for many 
days 5 and great was the work of the Lord upon 
him, being stripped of his earthly wisdom, and in 
that state he mourned and wept bitterly, for he saw 
where he had been, and that it was the Lord alone 
that could help him : and in great compassion the 
Lord" revealed his saving health and arm of power, 
by which he raised him up, and filled him with 
wisdom and strength for the performance of that 
work he would concern him, in gathering home the 
out-casts of Israel, and the dispersed of Jacob ; and 
sent him forth to preach redemption, in the name 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the poor, and deliver- 
ance to the captive, and the day of vengeance upon 
the wicked : and leaving all his outward concerns, 
he went forth, and the dread, wisdom, and majesty 
of the Lord was with him, and many hundreds were 
turned to the Lord through him, as an instrument 
in God's hand ; Bristol, and several counties in the 
west of England, were witnesses of the power and 
efficacy of his ministry, who with John Camm, were 
of the first of those called Quakers who went to 
that city, preaching Christ Jesus the light of the 
world. He was often concerned in disputations, 
and the Lord furnished him with matter, so that 
be stopped the mouths of gainsayers \ his testimony 
C 2 



52 PIETY PROMOTED. 

was large and free, affecting almost to all sorts of 
people, and he had a word in season to all con- 
ditions •, but notwithstanding he was young and 
strong, yet that service much spent him several 
years before lie died. 

He had been several times in prison for his testi- 
mony's sake, as at Newcastle, and at Bristol ; and 
often in great perils, sore beatings, and cruel mock* 
ings, both of the rabble, and also of the bitter 
spirited professors, but through all the Lord pre- 
served htm faithful ; and he growing weak by a 
lingering distemper of a cough and consumption, 
wow Kl often say in his sickness, ' Ah ! those great 

* meetings in the orchard at Bristol, I may not forget ; 
1 I would so gladly have spread my net over all, 
1 and have gathered all, that I forgot myself, never 
1 cons'dering the inability of my body ; but it is well, 

* my reward is with me, and I am content to give 
c up and be with the Lord, for that my soul values 

* above all things.' 

Near his death, friends visiting of him, the Lord 
did wonderfully open his mouth in exhortation, to 
their great refreshment and joy, as if he had been 
without sense of sickness : he had a tender regard to 
his dear wife who was big with child ; ' But in this,' 
said he, ' my will is in true subjection, submitting to 
' the will of the Lord, whether life or death :' he 
desired his wife to give him up freely to the disposing 
hand of the Lord. And the Lord strengthened her, 
freely to recommend him into his hands, which made 
him easy. 

He was often, in the time of his sickness, exceed- 
ingly filled with the high praises of God, being over- 
come in the sense of God's love, joy, and everlasting 
peace. When he grew weaker, he would be helped 
up upon his knees, and upon his bed fervently sup- 
plicated the Lord, in the behalf of his whole heritage, 
that they might be preserved in the truth, out of the 



PIETY PROMOTED. 53 

evil of the world ; and that his gospel might spread, 
and be published, to the gathering of all that apper- 
tain to Israel : and so was sweetly taken away in the 
joy of the Lord, on the 2 2d of the First month, in the 
year 1664. 

He was convinced in 1652, and died 1664, being 
aged about thirty-four years. 



]3 1 CHARD FARNS WORTH, of Balby, in 
-" Yorkshire, was also one of those whom the 
Lord raised up early in the work of the ministry, and 
he suffered about twelve months imprisonment at 
Banbury, in Oxfordshire, in the year 1655, and many 
were turned to Gcd by him : he was mighty in dis- 
courses, and disputes with priests and professors, and 
after much labour in the work of the ministry, and 
great sufferings and persecutions, he at last finished 
his testimony in London. 

A little space before his departure out of this life, 
sitting up in his bed, he spoke in as much power and 
strength of spirit as he had ever done at any time in 
his health, those words following : c Friends, God 

* hath been mightily with me, and hath stood by me 
' at this time, and his power and presence hath en- 
" compassed me all along •, God hath appeared for 
' the owning of my testimony, and hath broken in 
' upon me as a flood, and I am filled with his love 

* more than I am able to express ; and God has 
' really appeared for us : if God himself had come 
' down, and spoken as a man, he could not have 
c spoken more clear to us than he hath done, by the 

* many testimonies from heaven in, his people. — 

* Therefore I beseech you, friends, here of this city 

* of London, whether I live or die, be you faithful 
6 to your testimony God hath committed to you. 5 

He died in the city of London, in the year 1666. 

c 3 



54 PIETY PROMOTED. 

M ART HARRIS, of London, a maid young 
■*" and beautiful, went often with her relations 
to the meetings of the people called Quakers, and 
had a love raided in her to the blessed truth, and 
to them wTio held it in a pure conscience ; yet still 
lived in the customs and fashions of this evil world : 
but the same love of God that had begotten ten- 
derness in .her heart, and love to truth, followed her, 
and would not suffer her to sit down in the world 
without trouble, and the Lord visited her with great 
weakness, so that she grew ill, and fell into a con- 
sumption for about three years ; and being often 
visited by Josiah Coale, and put in mind to con- 
sider, whether the hand of the Lord was not upon 
her for her unfaithfulness and disobedience *, she did 
consider the matter, and the Lord tet it home upon 
her heart, and she cried to him for mercy, and 
applied her heart to the Lord, and his faithful mes- 
sengers, saying, * I have hardened my heart at many 

* precious meetings, when the Lord hath smitten 

* me •, and 1 have seen plainly, that the Lord would 
4 have gathered me •, but I said in my heart, if I 

• receive this, if I give up to this, I must be a 
4 Quaker, and I cannot be a, Quaker. Then would 
' I take my heart from attending upon the minis- 
' tration of truth, and then my heart became mere 

* hard. What shall I do,' said she, ' that now I may 

• receive the faithful sayings of the servants of the 
' Lord ? Oh ! that my heart were open ; but it is 
' shut and Jjard : when shall I find mercy in this 

• state ?' 

She remained so for some time, and grew weaker 
and weaker in body ; and on the first day she took her; 
bed she was much under the righteous judgments of 
the Lord, and felt his word in her htart as fire ; but 
the Lord in judgment remembered mercy, and having 
brought her very low, he shewed her the child's state, 
which she with great delight desired $ and indeed sh« 



PIETY PROMOTED. 5$ 

became as a little child, fit for the kingdom of heaven j 
then did the Lord rend the veil, and shewed her his 
glory, and the preciousness of his pure truth, and the 
light shined out of darkness, and in it she saw light, 
and received the knowledge of God ; and her heart 
, was filled with joy and praises to the Lord, saying, 
4 1 am well •, I feel no pain ; I am full ; my cup runs 

* over j I am filled as it were with marrow and fatness; 
I have seen his glory, and tasted his precious truth. 

* How pure is God's everlasting truth ? Nothing so 

* pure ; and they who indeed receive it, are made pure 

* by it : praised be the Lord who hath made me par- 

* taker of it, and placed me among his people : oh ! 

* blessed God, who hath given me cause to sing aloud 

* of thy praise.' "With many precious words which 
she spoke to several persons who came to visit her, to 
their several conditions, shewing to some, who lived 
in pleasure, her hands, saying, * See here, the Lord 
' hath made these bones bare for my rebellion; because 

* I would not submit to his 1 precious truth, he hath 
' brought me to the dust, and I must lay down this 

* body as a sacrifice : oh ! do not you stand out, it 
c will cost you dear, if ever you find mercy/ Then 
she would sing praises to the Lord, and exhorted all 
6peedily to embrace truth, and warned others prc- 
fessing truth, from following the fashions of the world, 
crying to the Lord to wash her thoroughly. Some 
would say to her, it may be thou mayest recover. 
-* No, no,' she replied, ' I must lay down this body for 

* my rebellion: in my vain life, if any had said I 

* should recover, it would for a little time seem to 
c refresh me ; and if they had said surely I could not 
' live long, it would cast me down, but now I long 
1 for death ; I must lay down this body -, for,' said she, 

* when I received God's everlasting truth, I received 

* the sentence of death \ and this she was positive in 
all along. 

More sensible expressions she uttered, which I 

Q 4 



jo . PIETY PROMOTED. 

omit for brevity. But about half an hour before lies 
departure, she was taken with a very great trem- 
bling, and seemed to be somewhat troubled ; when 
one near her said, c What is the matter ? art thou- 
in any doubt concerning the truth of which thou 

* art made partaker ? ' She replied, * No, no ; that is 

* God's pure everlasting truth, which the people of 
God, called Quakers, are made partakers of, and 

'for which they suffer; that is everlasting, that is. 
1 the true spirit, and their God is my God •, and 
1 although I see it not now as I have seen it, yet I 

* bring in my testimony, that is the truth that shall 

* abide for ever ; that is pure, and nothing that is 
1 defiled shall be sheltered under it : that is the truth 

* which enlighteneth every man coming into the 

* world : the little seed in me is become great, great, 

* great ! blessed be God who hath placed me among 
( his people, and I possess what they possess ; and 

* when the faithful die as I die, my portion will be 
' their portion ; and my cup is full, it runs over and 

* over.' Then she breathed a little thicker for about 
the space of a quarter of an hour, and so without 
groan or sigh, or the least motion, she shut her eyes 
and slept. Glory to God for ever. 

She died at the widow Mary Forster's, in that 
called St. John's-strect, near Smithfield, London, in 
the year 1668. 



TOSIAH COALE, born of a family of good repute 
^ among men near the city of Bristol, was con- 
vinced of God's everlasting truth, through the power- 
ful ministry of that servant of God John Audland, 
about the year 1655; and the word of life pierced 
Josiah to the heart, and wrought effectually to his 
salvation and redemption. He walked for a time 
under deep judgment, and mournfully, so that he 
became a eazing stock and wonder to his former 



PIETY PROMOTED. 57 

acquaintance; but God's arm was strong, and plucked 
up every evil plant, and purified him, and made him 
fit for the Lord's use, and an able minister of tha 
everlasting gospel of Christ Jesus •, an incessant 
labourer, few more spent in God's service •, his soul 
seemed wholly bent to the renowning the name of 
Christ ; and the enemies of truth he ever accounted 
his enemies: his declaration was to the ungodly like 
an axe, or hammer, and a sword sharp and piercing, 
being mostly attended with an eminent appearance 
of the dreadful power of the Lord, to the cutting 
down many tall cedars, and making the strong oaks 
to bow ; but to the faithful and diligent, who minded 
die things of Christ more than their own, oh! how 
soft and pleasant were the streams of immortal life 
that run through him, to the refreshing of those [ 
yea, it was his life and joy to be speaking the word 
of the Lord, and not his own words ; and many 
thousands were living witnesses to the power, virtue 
and efficacy of his ministry ; but above all, he was 
terrible to the sowers of strife, secret backbiters, and 
such as did rend the holy body, and separate from 
the life, love, and fellowship of the blessed truth ; 
who, in their own selfish spirits, set themselves over 
their brethren, by feigneclness and deceitful appear- 
ances, to the destroying the simple-hearted. 

In his conversation, his kindness was so mixed 
with seriousness, and his familiarity with a staid 
and exemplary behaviour, as he was an honour to 
the truth, and therein a con firmer of his holy tes- 
timony and weaker brethren. 

He was hardy, valiant, and fixed; not of those 
who shun the cross, or sell their birth-right for a 
mess of pottage : he baulked no danger for the sake 
of his blessed testimony, which he bore faithfully in 
England, Holland, the Low Countries, and, Barba- 
does ; and had also sore travels among the heathen 
in America, as in Maryland, Virginia, and New 



5$ PIETY PROMOTED. 

England, preaching the gospel of Christ among 
fhem. He travelled on foot through the wilderness, 
from Virginia to New England, in danger of wild 
beasts and venomous creatures, much hunger and 
cold, and weariness, and through bogs and waters, 
often obliged to eat chesnuts for food when hungry, 
as appears at large in the record of New England's 
persecution. 

He was a good example, as well for his liberality 
as faithfulness, for as the prosperity of God's truth 
was above all things most in his eye, so he was 
always cautious of making the gospel chargeable to 
any, for having some estate of his own, he freely 
employed it in the Lord's service, counting nothing 
too dear for the name and service of the Lord. 

And thus having laboured his natural strength 
away in this heavenly warfare, for the promotion of 
lhe glorious truth of the Lord, and for the advance- 
ment of its interest and dominion in the world, for 
above twelve years together, he did, with perfect 
understanding, and in an extraordinary enjoyment 
of the Lord's life, majesty, and presence, to the 
refreshment of the beholders, chearfully lay down 
his mortal body. 

George Fox visiting him uptm his sick bed, queried, 
whether he had any thing upon his mind, to write 
to friends in England, or beyond sea : he said, that 
he was clear of writing to them 5 and that as the 
Lord by his power had carried him through England 
and other nations, so he had nothing to write, but 
he desired his love to all friends ; and farther said* 
one thing did lie upon him, in that he did under- 
stand, that Lodowick Muggleton (a most blasphemous 
ranter) and his company would boast against him ; 
and understanding George Fox was preparing a book 
in answer to the said Muggleton, desired he might 
put in a few words as his last testimony against 
Muggleton > which George Fox desired him to pre- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 59 

pare, and he would call for as he came back : and he 
spoke them forth in the power of the Lord, as fresh 
as if he had ailed nothing, and a friend took it in 
writing, which is as folio weth : 

* Forasmuch as I have been informed, that Lodo- 

* wick Muggleton hath vaunted concerning my de- 
' parture out of the body, because of his pretended 
' sentence of damnation given against me ; I am 
' moved to leave this testimony concerning him, 
' behind me, viz. That he is a son of darkness, and 

* a co-worker with the prince of the bottomless pit, 

* in which his inheritance shall be for ever. And 

* the judgment that I then declared againft him, 
< stands sealed by the Spirit of the Lord, by which 
*I then, declared unto him, That in the name of 

* that God that spanneth the heavens with his span, 

1 and measureth the waters in the hollow of hi*. 
4 hand, I bind thee here on earth, and thou art 

* bound in heaven, and in the chain under darkness, 
1 to the judgment of the great day thou shalt be 

* reserved, and thy faith and strength thou boasted 

* of I defy, and trample under foot. And I do 
c hereby further declare the said Lodowick Muggleton 
( to be a false prophet, in what he said to me at 

* that time, viz. That from henceforth I should 

* always be in fear of damnation, which should be 
' a sign to me that I was damned ; which fear I 

* never was in since 5 so that his sign given by him- 
4 self did not follow his prophecy, which sufficiently 

* declares him to be a false prophet/ 

George Fox, when he came back again, found 
Josiah sitting by the fire-side, filled with the power 
of the Lord, and speaking to friends about him as 
folio weth ; ■ Well, friends, be faithful to God, and 

* seek nothing for self, or your own glory; and if 

* any thing (wrong) arise, judge it down by the 

* power of the Lord God, that so you may be clear 

* in his sight, and answer his witness in all people, 

C6 



60 PIETY PROMOTED. 

'then will you have the reward of life : for my 
' part, I have walked in faithfulness with the Lord, 
4 and I have thus far finished my testimony, and 

* have peace with the Lord, and his majesty is with 

* me, and his crown of life is upon me : so mind 
c my love to all friends/ Then he spoke to Stephen 
Crisp, saying, ' Dear heart, keep low in the holy 

* fear of God ; that will be thy crown/ Afterwards 
he said, ' A minister of Christ must walk as I have 

* walked.' Then he desired George Fox to pray, 
that he might have an easy passage : and friends 
seeing him begin to be heavy, desired him to go 
and lie down on the bed, which he did ; and friends 
sat about him, and held him, and he was filled with 
the power of the Lord and seed of life, which was 
over all : and so in that he departed away, in the 
arms of friends, as he sat on the side of his bed, 
and had a very easy passage into eternal life. 

He died in London, aged thirty-five, years and 
two months, in the year 1668. 

He laboured in the ministry twelve years, and writ 
many treatises, which are collected together in one 
volume. 



"ORANCIS HOWGILL, of Greying In the county 
-*- of Westmoreland, an early minister of the gospel 
of Jesus Christ, was convinced of the blessed truth 
by George Fox, at that notable meeting at Firbank 
Chapel in Westmoreland, in the year 1652. He soon 
became a powerful minister, and preached Christ 
freely as he had received him. He came to London 
with Edward Burrough early, to visit that city ; and 
travelled to Bristol and divers parts of the nation, and 
suffered imprisonment in Appleby goal in the year 
1652, and a nasty stinking prison it was; but he was 
set at liberty the latter end of the year, and grew 
valiant and bold for the name of the Lord, travelling 



PIETY PROMOTED. 61 

up and down on foot, preaching the gospel : he went 
to the steeple-houses, and to many places, warning 
both priest3 and people of the day of the Lord that 
was coming upon them, directing them to Christ 
Jesus their teacher and Saviour. 

He came also to London, on foot, with John 
Camm, to admonish Oliver Cromwell, soon after he 
was made protector *, and he went with Edward 
Burrough to Ireland, and preached Christ under great 
sufferings there, until he and Edward Burrough 
aforesaid, were banished by Henry Cromwell out of 
Ireland. Afterwards he was imprisoned in London, in 
the year 1661, at the time when the Fifth Monarchy 
people did rise up in arms, but was clear of that 
bloody act; and so was set at liberty, and continued 
labouring up and down the nation, in the work of 
the Lord, and turned many to God, until the latter 
end of the Fifth month, in 1 663, when he was sent 
for out of the market in Kendal, by the magistrates, 
who tendered him the oath of allegiance, and because 
for conscience-sake he could not take it, they sent 
him to Appleby goal ; and at the assizes, for refusing 
to take the oath, sentence of premunire was given 
against him by the judge, in these words, * You are 

* put out of the king's protection, and the benefit 
c of the law ; your lands are confiscated to the king 

* during your life, and your goods and chattels for 
( ever; and you to be a prisoner during your life.' 

F. Howgill replied, 'An hard sentence for my 

* obedience to the commands of Christ ; the Lord 
'-forgive you all.' 

Judge. ' Well, if you will yet be subject to the 

* laws of the king, the king will shew you mercy.' 

F. Howgill. * The Lord hath shewed mercy 
i unto me, and I have done nothing against the king, 
4 nor government, nor any man, blessed be the Lord, 

* and therein stands my peace ; for it is for Christ's 

* sake I suffer, and not for evil doing/ And so the 



62 PIETY PROMOTED. 

court broke up, and many were sorry to see what 
was done against him j but he signified, how con- 
tented find glad he was, that he had any thing to 
lose for the Lord's precious truth, of which he had 
publicly borne testimony, and that he was counted 
worthy to suffer for it. And he was kept a prisoner 
in Appleby goal four years and an half, and his body 
being much spent in his public travels and labour 
in the gospel, was not able to endure such close con- 
finement, though he did bear his suffering in much 
patience and chearfulness until the time of his de- 
cease. 

He'was taken ill the nth of the Eleventh month, 
1668, and though his departure drew nigh, yet was 
he kept in perfect understanding, being often very 
fervent in prayer, and uttered many comfortable ex- 
pressions, to the refreshment of those about him : 
and two days before his death, his wife and friends 
being present, he said, c Friends, as to matter of 

* words you must not expect much more from me, 
1 neither is there any great need of it, or to speak 
' of matters of faith to you who are satisfied ; only 
' that vou remember my dear love to all friends who 
' enquire of me, for I ever loved friends well, and 

* any other in whom truth appeared ; and truly God 
' will own his pe< pie, as he hath ever hitherto done, 
4 and as we have daily witnessed $ for no sooner 
' had they made that act against us for banishment, 
' to the great suffering of many good friends, but 
c the Lord stirred up enemies against them, even 
' three great nations, whereby the violence of their 
' hands was taken off. 1 say again, God will own 

* his people, even all those that are faithful j and as 

* for me, I am well, and content to die ; I am not 

* afraid at all of death : and truly one thing was of 
' late in my heart, and that I intended to have writ 
' to George Fox and others, even that which I 
? have observed, which thing is, that this generation 



PIETY PROMOTED. 63 

c passeth away, when so many good and precious 
■ friends, within these few years have been taken' 
' from us •, and therefore frknds had need to watch 

* and be very faithful, so that we may leave a good, 

* and not a bad savour, to the next succeeding gene- 

* ration, for you see that it is but a little time that 
4 any of us have to stay here.' 

Often he said in the time of his sickness, that he 
was content to die, and that he was ready ; and 
praised God for the many sweet enjoyments and 
refreshments he had received on that his prison- 
house bed wdiereon he lay, freely forgiving all who 
had a hand in his restraint. And he said, ' This 
' was the place of my first imprisonment for the 
c truth at this town •, and if it be the place of my 
1 laying down the body, I am content/ 

Several persons of note, inhabitants of Appleby, as 
the mayor and others, went to visit him, some of 
whom praying God might speak peace to his soul, 
he sweetly replied, { He hath done it ;' and they all 
spoke well of him. A few hours before his death, 
some being come to visit him, he prayed fervently 
with many heavenly expressions, that the Lord by 
his mighty power would preserve them out of all 
such things as would spot and defile. A little 
season after, recovering some strength, he further 
said, * I have sought the Way ef the Lord from a 

* child, and lived innocently, as among men; and if 
f any enquire after my latter end, let them know, 

* that I die in the faith that I lived in and suffered 
c for.' And these words he spoke, with some other 
words in prayer, and sweetly finished his course in 
much peace with the Lord, in the Eleventh month, 
1668. 

He laboured in the gospel sixteen years : there 
is a volume of his works printed in about 740 pages 
in folio, 



64 PIETY PROMOTED. 

T^HOMAS LOE, of Oxfordshire, was a faithful 
-*■ servant and minister of Christ Jesus, and con- 
verted many to truth, especially in Ireland, where 
he travelled through great hardships. His first going 
thither was about the year 1657; Francis Howgill, 
Edward Burrough, and others, having been there 
before him. He had an excellent gift, sound and 
clear in the ministry, powerful in speech, sharp and 
quick in his understanding, and many people flocked 
after him, and received truth by his ministry in that 
nation, and others he confirmed in the truth who 
were convinced before : he was often publicly en- 
gaged with priests and opposers, and the Lord made 
him a sharp instrument in his hand to confound the 
adversaries of truth, and the mouths of gainsayers 
were stopped ; his company was very desirable, being 
pleasant and sweet in conversation ; and sympathiz- 
ing with his friends in affliction, so accomplished 
him, that he could speak a word in due season. 
He was several times a prisoner for the testimony 
of truth, and went out of England several times 
to visit the nation of Ireland, in which travels his 
natural strength was much impaired : he also la- 
boured in the work of the ministry in London, being 
often there, and was taken sick in that city, ex- 
pressing on his death bed, what exceeding encou- 
ragement and glory he saw and felt of the Lord, as 
folio weth. 

1 Glory to thee, O God, for thy power is known \ 

* God is the Lord.' Then speaking to William, 
Penn, whom the Lord had made him instrumental 
to convince, he said, ' Dear heart, bear thy cross ; 
' stand faithful for God, and bear thy testimony in 
' thy day and generation, and God will give thee an 

* eternal crown of glory, that shall not be taken 

* from thee. There is not another way that the 
c holy men of old walked in, and it shall prosper \ 
' God has brought immortality to light, and im- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 6$ 

1 mortal life is felt, glory, glory, for he is worthy : 
€ my heart is full, what shall I say ? his love over- 

* comes my heart •, my cup runs over, my cu$> runs 

* over, glory, glory to his name for ever •, he is come, 
c he has appeared, and will appear: Friends, keep 
' your testimony for God, live with him, and he 

* will live with you/ Another time he said to some 
friends, ' Be not troubled, the love of God over 
e comes my heart.' And again, he spoke to George 
Whitehead and other friends present,viz. * George, 
' the Lord is good to me j this day he has covered 
' me with his glory : I am weak, but I am refreshed 
' to see you: the Lord is good to me/ Another 
friend asked him, - How art thou, Thomas?' he 
answered, ' I am near leaving of you, I think ; but 
' as well in my spirit as I can desire, I bless the 
1 Lord ; and I never saw more of the glory of God 
' than I have done this day/ And then being ex- 
pected to have departed, the power of the Lord arose 
in him, and he sung to the Lord, j Glory, glory to ' 

* thee for ever.' And so continued praising God for 
some time, which much affected the standers by. 

He departed in peace with God, on the 5th of 
the Eighth month, in the year 1668, at London. 



Of a Child about Thirteen years old. 

I7LIZABETH FURLY, daughter of John Furly 
-*-- J of Colchester, in the county of Essex, was a 
child that loved the Lord, and also those who feared 
him ; her delight was to hear truth preached, and 
to~ be with such who excelled in virtue 5 she feared 
and hated a lie, and lived and died in the faith which 
the people called Quakers profess. She was taken 
sick at her father's house in Colchester, the nth 
of the Twelfth month, in the year 1669. 



66 PIETY PROMOTED. 

Two days before she died, being filled with trie 
love of God, she uttered many precious sayings con- 
cerning the Lord, and his mercies towards her ; 
praying to the Lord that she might be faithful to 
the end. And in the presence of several persons 
spoke as followeth •, • Whatever is not of thyself, O 
1 Lord, purge out of me*, yea, purge me thoroughly, 

* leave no wicked word in me, thrust away the 

* power of darkness ; O Lord, make me able to 

* praise thee : let me not come into that way which 
' is evil, for if I do, I shall dishonour thee and thy 

* truth : I hope I t^hall never rebel against thee more, 
4 but have full satisfaction in thee, and in thy ways, 
' and not in the evil one and his ways. Wash me, 

* O Lord, thoroughly, let not an unadvised word 

* come out of my mouth :' with more to the same 
purport, * Shew them, O Lord, the evil of their 
1 ways, that have done evilly, and lay a burden upon. 

* their spirit. 1 --, that they may leave it. I feel no pain, 

* the Lord is good to me *, good is the will of the 

* Lord ; let thy will be done in earth as it is done 
4 in heaven : everlasting kindness hast thou shewn 

* mo, and I hope I shall never forget it while I am 

* in this world :' with more in admiration of the 
kindness and mercies of God, and her desire to serve 
"him whilst she lived. 

And to one of her brothers she said, ' Improve 

* thy time, for thou knowest not how soon thou 
' mayett be taken away ;' warning him of the danger 
of an evil life ; and took him about the neck and 
kissed him, saying, * Mind what I say, O dear bro>- 
1 ther; ' and with many more words she exhorted 
him. She also admonished her other brothers with 
tender expressions, saving, * Love the Lord, brothers; 

* love good men : hate the devil ; tut oh, love the 

* Lord, and then you will be a joy to your father 
1 and mother/ When she saw one of her sisters 
weep, she said, * Weep not for me, I am very well. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 6 7 

< All serve the Lord, that he may be yeur portion : 
' in my Father's house there is bread enough, there 
' is fulness, want of nothing ; yea, there is fulness of 
' bread, durable riches and honour \ I desire never to 
* forget the Lord:' 

As she walked in innocency, so she died in peace, 
and entered into glory the 16th day of the Twelfth 
month, in the year 1669, aged thirteen years and 
five weeks. 



TV/TARGARET MOLLESON, wife of Gilbert 
XT-l Molleson of the city of Aberdeen in Scotland, 
'was in her youth an enquirer after the best people, 
and joined herself in worship with the most strict and 
refined in profession then in that city ; but it having 
pleased God, who beheld her hungering desires after 
himself and his righteousness, to send some of his 
faithful witnesses and servants called Quakers, from 
the nation of England into the north of Scotland, who 
preached the everlasting gospel •, she was one of the 
first in t!}ose parts that received the same. 

And coming to taste of the unspeakable love of 
God, she delighted often to retire therein, out of the 
incumbering pares of her family and business: and 
although her love to her husband, and cares of her 
mapy children, was great, yet her greatest delight and 
care was, to draw nearer and nearer unto the true 
and living God, the chiefest beloved of her travailing 
soul j for that end she often resorted to the public 
meetings of the people called Quakers, as well as 
frequently in private with the Lord in prayer j which 
gave her husband (who was not one called a Ouaker) 
cause to say, that her knees were wore with kneeling 
at prayer. 

For about four momhs before her departure hence, 
he usually found her, when he awaked in the night- 
time 3 in meditation \ and after her departure, he also 



68 PIETY PROMOTED. 

said before several people coming to visit him, that 
he had lost a true Mary and a Martha, none knowing 
how great his loss was, and he could not but much 
lament it. 

On the 1 6th of the Tenth month, 1660, in the 
morning, shG was taken suddenly sick, and the same 
day in the evening died in child-birth, having been 
for some time before made sensible of her end -, yet 
her physician, not supposing that she had been so 
dangerous, said to her, she needed not fear, his life 
for hers-, to which she answered, * Fear, I have no 

* cause, but thou wilt see thou art mistaken/ At 
which time many relations and neighbours being in 
hex chamber, were in great sorrow, among whom 
was a great professor, and an old acquaintance of hers, 
who desired those about her to pray for her •, which 
she hearing, when others thought she had been dying, 
answered, * My advocate is with the Father, and my 
' peace is made : I am feeding at a table none of you 

* perceive h.' Some lamenting much her being like 
to be taken away from her nine children, who were 
all about her bed, she said, * As many of them as 

* shall truly fear t ] e Lord, and follow him, shall be 

* provided for :' which hath been since truly fulfilled. 
And fixing her eyes on her son Gilbert, (who was 
then about ten years of age) said in a heavenly frame 
of mind, ' Truth is precious, cleave to it.' She ob- 
serving the people in her chamber much lamenting, 
said to them, f Settle yourselves, and be staid in your 
€ minds, for ye are now to see the last.' And she 
being to reap eternally the fruit of her great and 
spiritual labours, had true cause given her then to 
declare before those present, viz. 'Now interruption 
' is to cease, and my eternal joy is already begun :' 
the certain earnest of which she received, and often 
preferred before all other enjoyments. 

Her life and conversation, as well as her latter end 
here, was such as gained her not only great love and 



PIETY PROMOTED. 69 

esteem from friends of truth, but also from others of 
her acquaintance. 

She departed hence on the 16th of the Tenth month, 
in the year 1 669, about the Forty-second year of her 
age, at Aberdeen in the kingdom of Scotland. 



JANE WHITEHEAD, wife of Thomas Whitehead, 
** of North-Cadbury in Somersetshire j her maiden 
name was Jane Vaugh, born in Westmoreland, her 
relations living about Hutton in the same county, 
whom she left in obedience to the Lord, and travelled 
in his service, and bore witness against the false ways 
and worships of the world, and for the sake of her 
testimony endured much persecution. 

In the year 1655, coming to Banbury in Oxford- 
shire, to visit her dear friend Anne Audland, then a 
prisoner for the truth, she, for bearing witness thereto, 
and against their cruelty and wickedness, was also 
taken and committed to prison, and lay there five 
weeks ; and not long after, coming again to the said 
town, the magistrates tendered her the oath of 
abjuration; which she refusing for Christ's sake, 
who saith " Swear not at ail/' was imprisoned twelve 
months in a low wet nasty place, in the winter season, 
that some times she would be over shoes in water, 
which she endured with much patience. 

In the Fourth month, 1662, she was again im- 
prisoned at Banbury, for worshipping of God at a 
meeting of the people called Quakers, where she lay 
in the same nasty prison three months. These things 
she suffered before she was married. Afterwards, 
.Thomas Whitehead, aforesaid, took. her to be his 
wife, by whom she had five children that she left 
behind her. 

At Ivelchester, she endured five months imprison- 
ment, with a young child sucking at her breast, in a : 



7 3 PIETY PROMOTED. 

cold winter, for speaking the words of truth and 
soberness to the priests of North Cadbury ; but the 
Lord upheld her by the word of his power, in the 
manifold eKercises and tribulations which she passed 
through, too tedious here to relate. Those abuses 
which she endured, brought her tender body into 
weakness, which did attend her several years before 
she died, and under the great exercises and weakness 
of body, she acknowledged, that the Lord was won- 
derful good to her •, and did often say, that the Lord 
had broken in upon her, and with his heavenly pre- 
sence did fill her, to the comfort of her soul : and 
said, * O that the Lord may never take his presence 
1 from me.' And to the last was kept sensible ; and 
declared, that she had the testimony of God's love, 
and that it would be well with her, and that she had 
no desire to lire any longer in this world. And 
charged her children to be obedient to their father, 
nnd that they should mind truth, and then the bless- 
ing of the Lord would be with them. 

The morning before she died, being sensible her 
death was at hand, she told a friend, that she was 
going to her long home ; and soon after departed this 
life, in the love and peace of God, on the 28-th day 
of the Seventh month, in the year 1674. 



\yiLLIAM BATLEY who was a Baptist teacher 
" at Pool, was convinced of the blessed truth, as 
professed by the people called Quakers, in the year 
1655, and travelled up and down in many places, in 
the service of the Lord. His gift in the ministry, 
both as to matter and utterance, was plain and pre- 
valent •, he divided the word aright, for he fed the fat 
with judgment, and yet he had milk for babes, and 
stronger meat for those of riper 3ge. He was mighty 
in the holy Scriptures, being well acquainted both 



PIETY PROMOTED. 71 

with the history and mystery there of, through the 
assistance of the Holy Spirit, which gave him a true 
understanding in both. It was given him, not only 
to believe, and preach the word of faith, but also to 
suffer for the same, sometimes by cruel persecutions, 
being thrown down, and dragged upon the ground 
by the hair of his head ; and his mouth and jaws 
endeavoured to be rent and broke asunder, that the 
ground whereon he lay was smeared with blood ; yet, 
as if this butchering of him had not been enough to 
make him a sacrifice, a heavy gross bodied persecutor 
stamped upon his breast with his feet, endeavouring 
to beat the breath out of his body 5 and when this 
persecutor had done his pleasure, he commanded the 
jailer to take him away, and put him in some nasty 
hole for his entertainment and cure. 

For the maintenance of his family, he several times 
adventured his life upon the mighty Waters, being 
master of a ship j and many beyond the seas were 
partakers of his labours, and comforted by his mi- 
nistry ; and in his return home from visiting friends 
in Barbadoes, he fell sick ; and a little before his 
departure, desiring to be remembered to his dear wife 
and children, he said, * Well, shall I lay down my 
4 head in peace upon the waters ? God is the God of 

* the whole universe, and though my body sink, I shall 

* swim a-top the waters;' and remembering his love 
to Friends in general, and some by name, he imme- 
diately sung (heing filled with the power of God) 

* The creating word of the Lord endures for ever ;* 
and spoke to them who sat by, and took several by 
the hand, exhorting them to fear God, and not to fear 
death. And said, c Friends at London would have 

* been glad to have seen my face ; tell them, I go to 

* my Father, and to their h ather ; to my God, and to 

* their God : remember my love to my wife ; she will 
'•* be a sorrowful widow ; but let her not mourn in 

* sorrow, for it is well with me.' He then took his 



72 PIETY PROMOTED. 

leave of the Friends on board, saying, ' I see not one 

* of you, but wish you all well.' A Friend of New 
England asked him how it was with him : he said, 
6 I am perfectly well : and mind my love to Friends 
1 in Rhode Island, and New England, and to Friends 

* in Barbadoes ; I went freely in tender love to them.' 
He uttered more sensible words ; and about half an 
hour past four in the morning, he departed this life, 
as if he had gone to sleep, being on 1st day of the 
Fourth month, in the year 1675, on board the Samuel 
of London, in the latitude of 46 degrees and 36 
minutes. 



Concerning a Child about Thirteen years old. 

JOSEPH BRIGGINS, son of William Briggins of 
** Bartholomew Close, in London, having been a 
dutiful child to his parents, and ready to receive in- 
struction, was taken sick the 2Cth of the Fourth month, 
1675. On the 26th of the said month, being, as it 
was thought, very near death, after he had lain silent 
for about an hour, began to appear full of joy and 
pleasantness, saying) * I .'hall praise the Lord, for he 

* is only to be praised \ with many more words which 
they could not remember, but that he said in admira- 
tion, * Oh ! I have never heard of any other God but 

* thee, my holy One-, I have heard of thee, but now 
1 I see thee in glory.' Calling for his father and 
mother up, he said, ' Father, father, oh ! father, oh ! 

* pure and glorious is my Saviour v/hich hath appeared, 
1 and hath taken me into his kingdom. Oh ! my eye 

< hath seen his glory.' And then he prayed, i Thou 
' most glorious God, great and wonderful things are 

* brought to pass by thy own pure holy power, by 

< which thou hast revealed thy Son. Oh ! my King, 
' let all people fear and stand in awe of thy power, by 

* which thou hast gathered many out of their sinful 



PIETY PROMOTED. 73 

* ways, into pure obedience to thee. Oh ! thou hast 

* given us a living knowledge. Oh ! pure, glorious, 
c and holy God, let thy life reach unto all my dear 
' friends, and keep them that know thee, sure and 

* stedfast upon thy holy foundation, Christ Jesus my 
' king, whose appearance is very glorious at this day, 

* and of his government no end is to be, but thousands 
c of thousands, millions of thousands, shall come to 
' see, and be made partakers of his glorious bright 

* shining day.' 

Another time he said, c There are many ways and 
-* baptisms in the world *, but oh ! thou pure, hcly, 
6 holy One, we have known thy spiritual baptism into 

* Christ Jesus my Lord, by whom the living water we 
' Ijave known and felt.; oh ! it is indeed exceeding 

* pure, by which we have been washed frGm all our 

* sins. Oh f my King, thou wast slain, and by the 
' virture of thy pure blood we have this given. Oh ! 
1 that all may wait continually upon thee, that they 
' may be kept from all the deceitful ways of the 

* world.' And to .those standing by he said, ' Mind 
x and serve the Lord in your day, for the holy truth 
' received by you, is the way in which you must wait 
'and obey -,' with much more : and then lay silent a 
.little while ; but again said, c The Lord hath taken 

* me into his kingdom, he hath discovered the fresh 
' springs of his Jove to my soul : all that know the 

* Lord, be obedient to his power, and he will discover 

* himself more to you, and you shall know more. 

* Thousands, thousands, millions, shall the Lord call/ 
With more words, after some time of silence. 

Some who knew him very well, wondered to hear 
him speak as he did, and said, that they had never 
heard such words come from him before ; he replied, 

* The Lord hath fully made known that to my soul, 

* which I had some feeling of before.' The next day 
lie was very earnest in prayer softly to himself, but 
iSorae words were heard, viz. ' Oh ! let all that know 

Vol. I. D 



74 PIETY PROMOTED. 

* the pure truth, come and receive it, saith my soul ■/ 
and he sung of the olive tree, and of the fruit thereof, 
which he fed on, and of his refreshment thereby. He 
was asked what he meant by the olive tree. He said, 
■ The tree of life.' And many more sayings he uttered 
before he departed to his everlasting rest, which was 
on the 3d day of the Fifth month., in the year 1675, 
in the thirteenth day of his sickness. 



pOBERT JBCEEL, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in 
*■**' the county of Northumberland, having a desire 
to visit George Fox, who was then at Swarthmore, set 
out on his journey, in company with several friends* 
but began to be sick the same day that he went from 

, and was ill at several places by the way, but 
.vill pressed forward, and would not be satisfied to 

short of Swarthmore, where he came the 2d of 
the Fifth month, 1676, and went to bed presently 

he came in, and lay sick there nine days. During 
his illness, these following words, with many more, 
poken by him, viz. ' No separation like unto 
1 Cii'x, soul separated from the body, the spirit re- 
4 turning to God that gave it, and the body to the 
4 earth, from whence it came : great has the loving 
4 kindness of the Lord been unto me, and not unto 
' me only, but unto all my dear friends who are 
' faithful unto death. And I have always been Faith- 
1 £ul to the truth, as to what was manifested ; for 
k God hath loved me from a child.' And he added, 
spreading out his hands, ' O the blessed precious 

* truth is above all the world, and this is my living 

* testimony I have to bear for the Lord, and his 
c truth ; for always I loved truth, and preferred it 

* before all the world ; for truth is precious, and 

* to be -valued before all things : therefore, Oh my 

* dear friends ! prize this precious truth, for it abides 



PIETY PROMOTED. 75 

*tor ever ; let nothing divert your minds from that 

* service of truth you have, for as that is kept to, 
{ truth answers truth in every heart. As to the 

* principle of truth, it will reign over all; though 
c strange things may happen in this nation, yet the 

* Lord will crown his blessed truth, and his glory is 
4 over all : therefore, all my dear friends, be faithful 

* to that manifestation in your own particulars, for a 
c profession will stand none in stead, unless they live 
c in the life and power of truth/ And another time 
he said, l Though I was persuaded to stay by the way 
4 (being indisposed) before I came to this place, yet 

* this was the place where I would have been, and the 

* place where I should be. whether I live or die.* 

George Fox visiting him, exhorted him to offer up 
his soul and spirit to the Lord who giveth breath 
and life to all, and he takes it again ; and he lifted 
up his hands and said, * The Lord is worthy of it, 
c and I have done it.' George Fox then asked him 
if he could say, f Thy will, O God, be done or 

* earth, as it is done in heaven ;' and he lifted up his 
hands and eyes and chearfully said, he did it. And 
his mouth was often filled with praises to the Lord, 
exhorting those about him, saying, * Dear friends, 
c dwell in love and unity together, and keep out o£ 
' jars, strife and contention, and be sure to continue 
' faithful to the end, and be not weary in well- 

* doing ; for this is a good testimony, They that 
c continue faithful to the end shall be saved.' And 
he said, * If any bad spirits speak evil of me when 
s I am gone, you are living witnesses' (speaking to 
two friends present, who were his neighbours) ' that 

* I am an innocent man, and the Lord hath cleared 

* me, and I lay down my head in peace. As to my 

* wife, I give her freely up to the Lord ; for she 
6 loveth the Lord, and he will love her. And I have 

* often told my dear wife, as to what we have in 

* outward things, it was the Lord's first before it 

D 2 



76 PIETY PROMOTED. 

( was ours, and in that I desire she may serve die 
1 truth to the end of her days. And now, my dear 
c friends, I commit you all to the Lord, to be pre- 
4 served and kept in his everlasting power, and bid 
' you all everlastingly, yea, everlastingly farewell.' 
And he said, ' All is done, and to the Lord I leave 
< vou all, I commit you all, farewell.' Afterwards 
lie said, ' Let us go hence in peace, for I shall go 
' hence, and be no more seen in mutability.' 

About two hours before he died, George Fox took 
him by the hand, and asked him if he was satisfied 
of his seeing him : and he lift \up his hands, and 
with a gladness of heart, and smilingly, praised the 
Lord and said, that his comfort flowed in as a flood. 
George Fox asked him, what he said, and he spoke 
those words ever again, and in much patience the 
Lord did keep him \ and he was in perfect sense and 
memory all the time of his weakness, often saying, 
k Dear friends give me up, and weep not for me, but 

* be willing to bear a part with me, for I am content 

* with the Lord's doings.' And often said that he 
had no pain ;'-but went away by little and little, often 
lifting up his hands while he had strength, praising 
the Lord, and made a comfortable end, on the nth 
of the Fifth month, in the year 1676. 



\T7 ILLIAM SIXSMITH, of Warrington in the 
*' county of Lancaster, a young man about 
Twenty-one years of age, was in time of health a 
pattern of piety and £ood example ; and when he 
was taken sick, he freely resigned up himself into 
the hand of the Lord, refusing a physician, saying, 
c I am satisfied with the Lord's lovej' and that he 
knew his Redeemer lived, who, if he pleased, was 
able to restore him to his health, and if not, he was 
content. In the time of his sickness he was very 



PIETY PROMOTED. 77 

patient and quiet, often praising God. A little 
before his death, calling his father, with an innocent 
look he gave him his right hand, saying, e I desire 
thou wilt- not be troubled.' And so laid down his 
life in peace, the 24th of the Seventh month, in the 
year 1677. 



■pRANCIS PATCHET, of Scotforth, in the 
■*-. county of Lancaster, was a prisoner for his tes- 
timony against tithes : the priest who prosecuted 
him, removed him up to the Fleet prison in London, 
where he died a prisoner. 

In the time of his sickness he prayed, * O Lord 

* God. everlasting, glory and honour for ever be given 
1 to thy name \ thou hast made way for thy redeemed 

* as in ancient days, when thou madest the sea dry 

* land for thy people Israel to go through •, O glory 

* and ~ honour for ever be unto thy name, who art 

* unchangeable in all thy ways : thou madest man in 
c thy own image, but he lost it through disobedience '. 
( but, O Lord, in thy unspeakable love thou sent 

* thy only Son Christ Jesus to redeem again. Oh ! 
' everlasting .praises- to thy name for ever;' with 
many other words. Again he said, { There is no 
4 God like our God ; he has given his Son a light 

* into the world, and his salvation to the ends of the 
'• earth.— Oh ! this blessed day wherein truth hath 
1 appeared : Oh ! England's giory : Oh ! friends, 

* obey the truth, love the truth, buy the truth and 
( sell it not : Oh ! Christ Jesus the way, the truth, 

* and the life.' Again he said, ] Glorious is the 
( house of God, a house of holiness, a pure house, 

* a house of love, and her gates praise •, our God is 

* a consuming fire, he consumes all that is bad, all 
1 impurity, all uncleanness, all that is unholy, all 

* that is wrong.' And so went on praising God for 
sending his Son for the redemption cf man, and 

r>3 



7 8 PIETY PROMOTED. 

spoke much of the Lord's making a way for his 
people in the nation of England. At another time 
lie said, c My strength fails me.' On which, one by 
him replied, c I hope the Lord dotli not fail thee:' 
he answered, ( Through mercy the Lord never failed 

* me j ' with more concerning the Lord's building of 
Zion, &c. And at another time he said, speaking 
of the Lord, J Oh ! thy precious light, iu which I see 

* thy glory : what will become of them that despise 
' thy light?' Again he said, * The false prophet 

* and the hireling the Lord will cut down, and all 

* that resist his blessed work which he hath begun 

* in this nation oi England -, ' with more words of 
exhortation to friends, and praises unto God, and 
so finished his testimony, a prisoner for truth, the 
2d of the Tenth month, in the year 1677. 



/CHRISTOPHER BACON, of Polling-hill, in 
^-^ Somersetshire, was formerly a soldier in the 
king's army. About the year 1 65-6 some of the Lord's 
servants, called Quakers, coming into that country to 
preach the go?pel, he went to one of the meetings, 
not to receive good, but rather to scoff and deride y 
but, through the Lord's mercy lie was reached in his 
conscience, and received the blessed truth in the love 
of it ; and afterwards received a dispensation of the 
gospel of Christ to preach, and was a diligent labourer 
in the work of the ministry, and travelled to London, 
and into Ireland, and Wales, and many parts of the 
nation of England, and several were convinced of the 
truth by him. 

In the year 1678 he came into the county of Corn- 
wall, and there fell sick, being weak of body before, 
but had a good meeting of friends in the town : and 
upon his sick bed he desired a friend by him to write 
comfortably to his wife, if the Lord should take him 



PIETY PROMOTED. 79 

away, and advise her, that she bring up her children 
in the fear and counsel of the Lord ; and it was his 
fervent desire that his wife may be kept to truth ; and 
for all friends. And said, ' Since it is my lot, after 

* many great labours and travels for the service of 

* truth, for me to come here and lay down my body, 
' I am well satisfied in God's will and pleasure, and 
4 am at this time free and clear in my mind, willing 
c to be with God.' Then making some pause, he 
said, ' Oh ! friends, keep in mind your latter end, and 
' that will make you draw nigh to the Lord, and seek 
c after him.' And further said, * Friends, take heed : 
' that you lose not an heavenly inheritance for an 
' earthly.' And the day before he died, being the 
First-day of the week, he spoke to friends as they 
were going to meeting, minding his dear love to 
friends, and said, ' The Lord's presence be amongst 

* you, for his presence hath attended me in all my 

* labours, travels, sufferings, and exercises, for his 
c name's sake.' His end drawing near, and his body 
weak, he continued to the last moment in sweet har- 
mony, and lifting up his hands, and in much quietness 
and peace he gave up the ghost the 29th of the Tenth 
month, in the year 1678, aged about Fifty-five years*. 



Tl/ILLIAM CO ALE, of Maryland, in America, 
* * was convinced of the blessed truth about the 
yer.r 1657, and was a man of an innocent and tender 
spirit, of true judgment, and stood in the power 
and love of God against unrighteousness and false 
liberty, and for true liberty in Christ Jesus, and for 
holiness, peace and unity in the church; he freely 
and tenderly preached the cross of Christ, and was 
living and weighty in his testimony. He suffered 
imprisonment in James Town prison, in Virginia, 
with George Wilson, a friend of Old England, who 

i>4 



So PIETY PROMOTED. 

travelled into America to preach the gospel, whom 
the magistrates of that town persecuted to death, 
after they had cruelly beaten and whipped him, and 
kept him long in iron chains; and the said William 
Coale was atao much decayed in his body by thafc 
cruel imprisonment, and never recovered it. 

His visit to friends in Virginia was very service- 
able to many, some were turned to the Lord through 
his ministry, and many were established in the blessed 
truth ; and in the time of his sickness he was chear- 
ful in spirit, freely given up to the will of God, as a 
living man prepared to die, saying, ' The living pre- 
sence of the Lord is with me;' with many words 
more of the great satisfaction he had from the Lord' 
concerning his peace, saying, * I bless the Lord, I 
* have finished my course, and I have nothing to do 
4 but to wait on the Lord to die/ So in a short time 
be departeJ very peaceably and quietly away, about 
the year 1678. 



Q ARAH BECK, wife of John Beck, of Dockra, 
^ in the county of Westmoreland, was an innocent 
woman, and one that feared the Lord ; even from a* 
child her heart was set to seek him and the prosperity 
of his truth, and the welfare of all people, and her 
chiefest care was to serve and obey the Lord.— 
Being sick near unto death, and it was thought she 
was dead, but recovering a little, she said, * I was 

* well, I was very well, if I had gone.* And after 
that she praised and magnified the name of God, 
which much affected the hearts of many who were 
with her in her sickness;, and she said, c O Lord, 
' thou hast satisfied my soul ; I desired that I might 
c praise thee, and I am satisfied, honour, glory and 

* hallelujahs be to thee, thou God of my life: oh t 

* I feel sweet peace and great joy : oh ! the joy that 
1 is laid up for the- righteous : oh ! who would not 



PIETY PROMOTED. 81 

1 but fear the Lord ! who would not but be faithful j* 
And taking her leave of her husband, and her friends 
one by one, saying, with a cheerful countenance, 
* I am near going ; this sweet end will come •> it 
' makes my heart glad when I remember my end 5 
i it will be the happiest hour that ever came to me/ 
Some observing her to be in great pain and very 
sick, said one to another, it is very hard ; she an- 
swered, ' Nay, it is very easy, for the Lord sweetens 
\ it : oh ! thou glorious God, thou hast -satisfied my 
'soul; I am filled with thy pure presence; 5 with 
these words, ' O that I may praise thee while I have 
i breath and being. I ' as indeed she did, for even at 
the very hour of death she said, c Call in the family ;* 
and holding her husband by the hand, made" sweet 
melody in her heart, saying,, * Dear God, what shall 
' I render to thee for this evening sacrifice?' And 
so went on praising God till her natural strength 
failed, and then turned her face to the pillow and ; 
said no more ; but died as if she had fallen asleep, 
being the thirteenth o£ the Sixth month, in the year -' 
1679.. 



TOHN MATERN was a German, and educated * 
** in the learning of the schools, intending to be a 
priest : but it pleased God to visit him, even in his 
own country, in the year 1674, and his Wife's father, - 
Christopher Proham, who was a priest, was con- 
vinced also, and was a faithful friend, and died iff 
peace with' God in England, where they and their--' 
familiescame to live. . 

John .Ma'tern laboured about six years in great 
integrity, instructing youth in the knowledge of the 
tongues, and endeavoured to bring them unto the fear 
of the Lord, and knowledge of his blessed truth. 
He lay sick about a week, and about four hours 
before he departed, at his desire, they called the 

r>5 



82 PIETY PROMOTED. 

youth of the school into his bed-chamber, where he 
had a rrieeting with the family, and he was filled 
with divine praises, magnifying the great power of 
God, and his prayer was fervent, that the Lord 
would carry on the good work begun among the 
children, and prosper his truth daily every where ; 
and he exhorted the children, as they sat round 
about him, to be faithful in their measures to a 
little, and more should be added. And he gave 
thanks to God for many particular mercies, but more 
especially, that he had received the knowledge of the 
everlasting truth, and had walked uprightly therein ; 
for which, he declared at that time, that he had the 
testimony of a good conscience, and was entering 
into eternal rest with the Lord. 

He died in rest and peace on the I st of the 
Seventh month, in the year 1680. 



pILES BARNARDISTON, of Clare, in the 
^-* county of Suffolk, came of a family of great 
account in the world, and had his education accord- 
ingly at the university, and his natural parts were 
answerable thereto ; but when he received the truth, 
he saw not only the emptiness of those things, but 
of their way of worship also *, and, like Moses, chose 
rather to join with the poor suffering people of God 
(called Quakers) than to enjoy the pleasures of sin 
for a season. After he was converted, it pleased 
God to commit a dispensation of the gospel unto 
him, and laid a necessity upon him to preach the 
same ; which he faithfully performed to the day of 
his death, not regarding the tenderness of his body 
so much, as to fulfil the will of God. 

When he was about to enter upon an hard journey, 
or otherwise exercised, he would say, c That is but 
' for a short time, aad we shall have done jn this 



PIETY PROMOTED. 83 

*- world •, and I desire that I may be faithful to the 

• end, that I may enjoy that of the hand of the Lord, 

• that I received the truth for. If it had not been 

• to obtain peace of conscience whilst I am in this 

• world, and hopes of everlasting rest with God in 

• the world to come, I would never have left the - 
; glory and pleasure of this world, which I had, and . 

• might have had a share of, with them that are in it; 
4 neither would I now leave my house and home,. 

• where I have a loving wife* with all that a man,. 

• fearing God, needs to desire, if it was not to obey 
•'the Lord, and to make known his truth unto others, 
"•that so they may come to be saved: for this cause 
•do I forsake father and. mother, wife and estate; 
c and whosoever thinks otherwise of- me, with the 

• rest of my. faithful brethren whom God hath called 
' into his work, to declare his name and truth among 

• the sons of men, they are all mistaken of us, and 

• I would they knew us better.' And so he con- 
tinued faithful in the Lord's work to the end ; and 

'he was blessed in his labour, for he turned many to 
righteousness. 

It pleased the Lord to visit him with sickness, in- 
his -retv.rn from London to Chelmsford, and his sick- 
ness was short ; in which time he gave testimony to 
the goodness- of God, and, said that the Lord was 
his portion, and that he was freely given up to die 5 ? 
which was gain to him. And on the nth of the 
Eleventh month 5 in the year 1680, he departed in,- 
peace. . 



A EICE CURWEN, of Lancashire,: who with her 
-^*- husband Thomas Curwen, travelled in the work 
of the ministry in divers parts of America, as New 
England, New York, Long Island, Rhode Island, and 
Barbadoes ; and after many long journies-, and much 
service, returned home about the Third month, 1677. 
JD6 



S4 PIETY PROMOTED. 

The said Alice, being upon her dying-bed, was 
asked if she thought she should recover of her sick- 
ness -, towhich she answered, * I do not know what 

* the Lord has to do ; but I am freely given up to his 
4 will, whether it be life or death; I am as clear as 
1 a child.' Another time, complaining of the un- 
faithfulness of some professing truth, she said, ' But 

* those who arc faithful, the Lord will preserve them, 
1 though they may meet with many trials and beset- 

* ments, both inwardly and outwardly.' And again, 
' All stand faithful for the Lord m their day, and 
1 none need be afraid of death, for it will be easy 
1 to them as it is to me/ She often in the time of 
her sickness, made melody to God in her heart, and 
said, * Oh ! my heavenly Father, how hast thou filled 

* my cup, and made it to overflow •, for I can do 
' no less than bless and praise thy eternal name/ 
Desiring often God's will might, be done, whether 
it w.is life or death ; for to me to live is Christ, and 
to die is, gain. She exhorted friends to be diligent^ 
and to knuw life and virtue in themselves ; * for,* 

* said she, ' the time will come that words shall cease, 
4 and life shall more arise;' and said, if she did live, 
she must declare it; and if she did die, she must 
leave it as a testimony for the Lord. Toward the 
latter end of the last night she lived, her pain was 
great, and she spoke to friends about her, saying, 
■ Pray to die Lord for me, that he lay no more upon 
' me than I am able to bear ; that I may not offend 
• this good God.' And immediately she prayed to 
the Lord, and had a little ease, and lay still as if 
she had been in a slumber, and so grew weaker, 
and was sweetly carried through to th.9 end. She 
died in London in the year 1680, 



PIETY PROMOTED. 85 

"ft/TARY SAMM, daughter of John Sa'mm, of 
■*• - *- Bedfordshire, and grand-daughter of "William 
Dewsbury, of Warwick, aged about twelve years, 
being taken^sick, and her aunt rinding her under a 
concern of rnind, asked her, why she walked so 
often alone in the- garden, when she was well, for 
she would many times be weeping alone, she re- 
plied, f, Dear aunt, I am troubled for want of a full 
4 assurance of my eternal salvation ; for not any 
'knows my exercise but the Lord alone, what I 

* have gone through since I came to Warwick ;, it 
c was begun before I came, but it was but a little : 

* this was my trouble, I thought I should not livs 

* long, and that if I did die, I did not know whither 
f. my soul should go; but I- hope the Lord will give 
' me satisfaction before I die : but it is but hope* 

* and though but hope, yet for this my soul shall 
' praise his name for ever/ The. next day, having 
more assurance of her future happiness, and some 
friends coming into her chamber, she said, c I have 
'been twice in: my days nigh to death, but the Lord. 
c in his tender mercy prolonged my days, that I 
'might seek, his face m the light of Christ, and 
' come to be acquainted with him before I go hence.' 
Also she said, 4 If this distemper do not abate, I must 

* die ; but my soul shall go to eternal joy, eternal 
' and everlasting life and peace with my God for 
'ever.' She said at another time, c They that live 
fe longest, endure the greatest sorrow •, therefore, O 
' Lord, if it be thy will, take me to thyself, that my 

* soul may rest in peace with thee/ With many 
more good words. 

The day following she desired all to go forth of 
the room : after a considerable time, her mother and 
grandfather went in again, when she. said,, * I have 
' now received full satisfaction of my eternal salva- 
1 tion. It is now done, it is now done.' And after 
saying something to her mother, she said, i I am 



$6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

' very willing to die, that the Lord may glorify his 
' name this day, in his will being cone with me :' 
often praying to the Lord, to lay no more upon her 
than she was able to bear, saying, ' Help me, O 
1 my God,, that I may praise thy holy name for 
Her grandfather ail vising her to stillness, 
she answered, ' Dear grandfather, I shall die, and 
4 I cannot but praise the name of the Lord whilst I 

* hive a beirlg : 1 do not know how to do to praise 
' him enough.' Her grandfather enquiring how she 
did, she replied, * I have had no rest to-night, nor 

* to-day. I did not know but I should have died this 
knight, but very hardly I tugged through it; but 
1 ! .11 die to-day, and a grave shall be made, and 

* my body put into a hole, and my soul shall go into 
1 heavenly joy, M-d into everlasting peace for ever- 

* more.' After more expressions, her aunt asked 
her if she though: she was upon her death-bed: she 

i, ■ Yea, yea, I am upon my death-bed, I shall 

* die to-day ; and I am very willing to die, because 

* I know it is hotter for me to die than to live.' — 
After some time, and other expressions, she en- 
quired the time of the day, which being told, she 
said, ' I thought it was more-, I wiil see if I can 
' have a little rc.t, and .sleep, before I die.' So lay 
still, and had a sweet sleep, and awaked without 
complaint ; and then in a quiet peaceable frame of 
spirit laid down her head the same day in peace, 
being the -c.th of the Second month, in the year 1680, 
in the Twelfth year of her age.. 



IV/TORDECAI HEARN was a young man whom. 
-*-*-*- the Lord in his mercy reached unto in his 
tender years, and called by his holy Spirit in his 
heart, and he hearkened to the call of the Lord, so 
that he became a prepared vessel, by the ,Lord, for 



PIETY PROMOTED. 87 

his uge and service. And God did open his heart, 
and mouth also, sometimes to declare of his goodness 
and mercy, and speak to the praise of his grace in the 
congregations of his people, until the twenty-third 
year of his age, when it pleased the Lord to accept 
of his mite, offered in faithfulness and sincerity, and 
to cut his work short in this evil world, and give 
him his heavenly crown of reward. 

He was visited with illness which brought hinv 
into a consumption ; and in his weakness and great 
affliction of body, he said to some friends who stood 
by him as he lay in bed, as follows : ' Blessed be 

* the Lord, that ever he made me to remember my 
4 Creator in the days of my youth,' seeing old age 

* is not like to be my portion 5 but a portion hath 

* the L.ord provided for me among the faithful, in 
' which my soul rejoices with you, dear friends ; for 

* this is our joy, and the crown of our rejoicing.' 
Another time he said, ' Friends, the Lord is wonder- 
' fully good unto me in my sore affliction 5 he com- 
' forteth me with his sweet presence, which is more 

* to me than all the fading things of this world : Oh ! 
' it is good to trust in the Lord, for he never faileth 

* them that put their trust in him/ And so he lay 
in a sweet, quiet, and tender frame of spirit. 

Many friends being about him, he exhorted them 
with tears on his cheeks, to follow the Lord £ully^ 
and to go on in his work and service, and the Lord 
would be with them. V/hich he spoke in so living 
a sense' of the Lord's power, that those about him 
were much broken into tears, which, when he be- 
held, he with a sweet heavenly countenance said, 
4 Friends, weep not for me; it is well with me; > 
f death is no terror to me, for the sting thereof is 
( taken away, so that I am not afraid to die. And 

* although my body be laid in the dust, yet in this, 
c dear friends, remember that I am now going but 

* a little before, and you must follow me.' And 



SS PIETY PROMOTED. 

soon after these words were spoken, he raised hur> 
self upon his knees, being in bed, and returned 
praises to the Lord for his goodness and loving- 
kindness, that was then shed abroad in their hearts. 
Anil besought the Lord, that he would be with his 
servants and handmaids ', and that he would prosper 
that work which he h; 

At another time, a near relation came to visit 
him, whom he entirely respected and loved, who 
had much lost his former condition in the truth, to 
whom he spoke in much love and tenderness, saying, 
'Oh! that our portion might bo together: I fear 
' thou • : Oh ! do i ot distrust the Lord, for. 

* he is all sufficient, ho is able to restore thee :. 

* but I fear thou do his mercy : Oh! the- 
1 thou i to in than all my 
'afflictions: Oh ! th I uld be separated, that 

* grieves me. 1 lull of pain and weak,. 

rely the Lord will release 

* me in his irely th..' Lord will ease me of 
1 r 1 1 i .- pain, for ] ■ l do not desire to live 

* here.' And when he drew nigh his departure, ha 
awaked out of I imber, and soon after, his 
mother discerning him to breathe short, said to his 
sister, c 1 think thy brother is now dying:' and he 
hearing her voice, spoke these words, ■ I am glad, 
' I am glad ; I go away with joy/ And called for 
his father, mother, and sister, to kiss them, and'.said, 
' Weep not for me, for I have peace with, the Lord/ 
And he lived some hours after, and lay praising him, 
saying, ' The Lord is worthy to be waited upon, 
'he will release me in his own time,' &c. And 
speaking to those about him, said, ' To outward ap- 
t pearance my time is but short in this world ; but 
' this I have to say, the Lord hath been good unto 
c me in my pilgrimage, and therefore be you faithful 

* unto the Lord in his requirings, to the end of your 
f days, and he will never leave you nor forsake you/ 



PIETY PROMOTED. 2$ 

And so quietly departed this life the 9th day of 
the Seventh month, in the year 1681, being twenty- 
three years and ten months old, at Sabridg worth in. 
Hertfordshire. 



CAR AH CAMM, daughter of Thomas Camm,. 
^ of Cam's-gill, in Westmoreland, and of Anne his 
wife, a child of nine years old, was visited with 
sickness the 13th of the Seventh month, 1682. She 
declared that she should be taken away by death, 
saying, ' I am neither afraid nor unwilling to die, 

* but freely am given up thereto in the will of God/ 
And when she saw her relations weep, would say,. 
' Oh ! do not so, do not so.' Being near death, her 
sickness increased, but she was very patient, only 
had deep sighs : her father asked v her rf she could 
not pray to the Lord for help ; her answer was, she 
could, and did pray. And further said, it was her 
belief, that the Lord, the great God of heaven and 
earth, would keep her, and preserve her soul, what- 
ever might become of her body. In the fifth day of 
her sickness, being under more than usual exercise 
of mind and spirit, after a little space she revived, 
and sate upright in her bed, and with a cheerful 
countenance said as followeth, ' My sins are forgiven 

* me, and I shall have a resting place in heaven.' 
Then looking at her mother, she said, c Oh! my 
' mother, there is also a place prepared for thee in 
'heaven, and thou shalt as certainly enjoy it as any 
' here. I do not/ said she, ' desire my mother*? 
' death, or removal from you ; yet we shall meet 
c in heaven in God's time.' And seeing her friends 
weepj she said, Oh ! you should not do so ; I am 
( - well, I am well.' Her father desired the company 
to withdraw, lest they should trouble her, but she 
soon called them in again, and said, ■ Shall I go 
4 down to the horrible pit? nay, the Lord. hath- re*. 



5»o PIETY PROMOTED. 

1 deemed my soul :' and called her brother, to whom 
she spoke very sensibly. And to iier sister she said, 

* I' • content, for it is, and will be well with me. 

* I must go to a more fair place than ever my eyes 
4 beheld. It will be well with me, and all that fear 

* the Lord, for we shall have everlasting joy in 

* heaven, when the wicked shall be tormented in 
; hell.' Seeing her sister weep, she said, * Do not 
4 cry, dear Mary, lest thou grieve the Lord : be sub- 

to the Lord's will in all things, and love and 

4 be faithful to the truth) and do not forsake thy 

ion, whatever thou suffer for it.' And further 

tisfied with my religion: I will not 

<c it, thi i fed with the bread 

* of adversity and water of affliction ; Oh! praises, 

* praises to my God, and my Father, and our Lather, 
4 winch art in heaven, hallowed be thy name-,' and 

id to the end of the Lord's prayer twice 
and the third time till she came to that petition, 
'Thy will be done in earth, as it is done in heaven,' 
which liberately, signifying to them 

about her, that they were all to mind that ; * for,' 
said she, * I am freely given up to his blessed will in 
4 all things : praises to my Godj bless his name, 
1 O my soul.' 

Another time her father haying her in his arms, 
she said, * Oh ! my dear father, thou art tender ai.I 

* careful over me, and hast taken great pains with 
4 me in my sickness, but it availeth not, there is no 
4 help nor succour for me in the earth ; it is the 
4 Lord that is my health and physician, and he will 
4 give me ease and rest everlasting.' And near her 
end she took leave of the family, particularly saying, 
with a pleasant voice, ' Farewell, farewell unto you 
4 all, only farewell;' signifying, ihat now she had no 
more to say •, and so went on praising the Lord* and 
continued in a sweet frame till she died, wanting 
eleven days of nine years old. 



PIETY PROMOTED, 91 

She died the 18th of the Seventh month, in the. 
year 1682. 



JOSEPH FEATHERSTONE, of Crowland, in 

^ Lincolnshire, was a man whom the Lord en- 
dued with much meekness, and he loved truth, and 
• to do the will of God. In the time of his sickness 
he was freely resigned unto the will of God, saying 
to his wife, £ My dear, give me up to the will of 

* the Lord, for I can freely give up all.' And when 
some of his friends came. to visit him, he exhorted 
them to faithfulness, and said, 'The Lord will make 
( a dying-bed comfortable to you \ that though, he . 

* felt much sickness and pain upon his body, yet the 
6 refreshment he felt from the Lord made all his 
'.troubles easy*,' and prayed, that his wife and' 
friends might be preserved in God's holy fear and 
undefiled way, to bear a testimony to the blessed 
truth to the end of their days. And the day before 
he died j being somewhat restless, his wife said* 
' Dear heart, thou art restless ;' he answered with a 
chearful countenance, { Dost thou not know where 
'the weary go to rest?' and said, i My rest and 
' fellowship is with the Lord.' A little before his 
death, he rested a pretty while, and being asked, 
how he did, he said, c I am well, blessed be the 
'Lord-,' and desired his wife to be satisfied j and 
then lifting up his hands, he said, f O Lord, thou 
' art the eternal God.' And so fell asleep in the 
Lord the 26th of the Ninth month, in the year 1682.. 



TUDITH FELL, a young woman twenty-four 
** years of age, daughter of Thomas and Anne Fell, 
near Ireby, in Cumberland, was never inclinable to 
vain company, nor to pride or lightness of carriage, 



92 PIETY PROMOTED. 

but always was very sober, and ready to be a good 
example to others, so that she did abundantly enjoy 
the love of the Lord, insomuch that on her sick-bed 
she was wonderfully filled, to the refreshment of 
others. Her sickness increasing, which was at times 
very severe Upon her, some enquired of her how she 
did •, she replied, 4 I am well every way. If I should 
1 live never so long, it can never be better; for my 

* heart is rully satisfied, and my soul magnifies Got!, 
1 who is worthy for ever.' And another time she 
requested her father not to desire her health; for she 
si 1 that she felt that which was beyond all her weak- 
ni ss and sickness : another time she said that the sting 
of death is removed, and that she felt victory over the 
grave; and so praised the Lord, saying, : Surely it is 

* thou, O Cod, that lives and reigns, and must reign 
' for ever ; and they are ever blessed who serve thee, 
1 and fear thy name. Thou, O God, reigns in the 

* hearts of the sanctified, and thou hast sanctified my 
' heart, so that I can truly praise thy name. Thou 

* knowest, Lord, for what end thou hast cast me on 

* this bed of sickness, surely it is for the glory of thy 
' name; therefore, Father, glorify thyself in me.' 

The day before she died, she said she saw that that 
day she was given to her friends ; and so continued 
quiet and eisy in her spirit, and several times did sleep 
very sweetly. And at the end of that- night her sick- 
ness increased, and she desired to see some friends, 
and she spoke words to their great refreshment* — - 
And the next day, after great fits of illness, she 
broke forth in praises, saying, c He is come that 
1 brings joy : Oh ! the streims of his love run ever 
( all, even to the skirts of the garment : Oh ! now is 
1 the fountain set open for Judah and Jerusalem to 
'bathe in; once more solace thyself, my soul, and 
' delight thyself in thy Saviour, for I feel his love 

* and life run afresh in my soul, so that, now ray 
f spirit doth magnify him that lives for ever.' Her 



PIETY PROMOTED. 93 

distemper prevailing upon her, they thought that she 
would not have spoke any more, but she lifted up 
her head and said, * This is the way to rest, this is 
* the way to rest for ever/ And in a little time drew 
her last breath, and ended her life comfortably, in the 
Twenty-fourth year of .her age., in the year 1682. 



TONAH LAWSON, son of Thomas Lawson, of 
** Westmoreland, aged about fourteen years, was a 
youth well inclined, of a peaceable spirit, and not 
known to tell a lie. He was taken sick of the small- 
.pox, and in his sickness, his father putting him in 
-.mind of the difference betwixt this world and heaven, 
where is nothing but joy, the lad answered, ( Ay, 
4 father, I hope I have but little to answer for, and 

* that I have a good conscience; I have abhorred lying 
■' and swearing, and what I saw to be evil, and am 
■■ c willing to die, if it be the Lord's pleasure, .or to live 

c to praise him/ His sister weeping, he said, to her, 
' Weep not, I hope we shall meet in a better place/ 
Soon after he uttered these words to the Lord, ' The 
c time thou hast appointed for me on earth, give me 
' grace to praise thy name/ Presently after, as 
answered from heaven, he said, ' O sweet God/ And 
a little before his departure, his father and sister being 
present, he said, '.So, soj I am coming, I am coming ^ 

* X must yield, I must yield/ 

He died on the 23d of the.Twelfth month, in the year 
1683, aged Fourteen years. After his death his father 
found the following verses of Jonah's making, vis.. 

Humility the spring of virtue is ; 
Humbling thyself, virtue thou canst not miss. 
Delight in virtue ; vice he sure to shun : 
He's happy that a virtuous course doth run, 



94 PIETY PROMOTED. 

■pLIZABETH BRAITIIWAIT, a young maid of 
-*- i seventeen years of age, who died in prison, for 
the testimony of a good conscience, at Kendal, in 
Westmoreland. From a child, God by his grace in- 
clined her heart to love, fear, and serve him •, and she 
was truly obedient to her parents, sober and chaste in 
her life and conversation, kind to all, and of a meek 
and quiet spirit. She was, with several others of the 
people called Quakers, taken up by a warrant, dated 
:;th of the Fifth month, 1684, for not going to 
church (so called) and carried to Kendal goal ; after 
some time she had liberty a few days to be at her 
brother's house; but complaint being made against 
the keeper, she was sent for, and she was not ea»y till 
she returned to prison, for she said, ■ That is my 
>, and my present home; there I have* most 

* peace and content.' 

About two months after her commitment, viz. the 
17th of the Seventh month, she was ti:ken sick in 
prison, and her mother coming to visit her, asked if 
she had a mind to go home; she replied, l No, no; 

* I am at home in my \ lace, to my full content ; and if 

* my God so order it that I be dissolved, I had rather 
4 die here than m any other place; and I am glad that 

* I got to this place before I began to be sick : here I 
' have peace and true content in the will of God, 
c whether life or death ; I am only grieved that there 
' should be so little tenderness or pity in the hearts 

* of my persecutors, to keep such a poor young one, as 

* I am in prison ; the Lord forgive them, I can freely/ 
And further said, that ' her imprisonment was by the 
1 permission of the Almighty, who is greater and 
' above the greatest of my persecutors, who I believe 

* will shortly set me free from these, and all other 

* bonds, over all their heads; and in his peace, in true 

* patience I possess my soul, and am contented, if it 

* be his will, to be dissolved.' A friend asked her 
why she was so willing to die; ' Oh/ said she, ' I have 



PIETY PROxMOTED. 95 

* seen glorious sights of good things.' The friend 
queried what things; she answered, c They are so 
' excellent and glorious that it is not utterable ; and 

* now I have nothing but love and good-will to all :' 
but more especially she was glad in the love and unity 
that she felt with friends ; e with whom,' said she, ■ I 

* have been often refreshed in our meetings together, 

* with the refreshment that comes from the presence 
' of the Lord : oh ! the good evening meetings that 
1 we have had.' Another time she said to her mother, 

* They say that we shall spend all our riches with lying 
s here in prison : nay, our riches are durable, and our 

* treasure hidden, laid up in heaven/ Her mother 
seeing her lie under great weight of sickness, would 
sometimes weep, but she was always troubled at it, 
and said, ' Dear mother, do not weep, but resign me 
' freely up into the hand of the Lord ; weep not for 

* me, for I am well, Christ my Redeemer is with me.' 
And to her sister she said, ' Come sister, lie down by 
x me, do not sorrow for me, I am well content to live 

* or die •, for my God hath blessed me, and will bless 

* me, and his blessings rest upon me/ And a little 
before she departed, her speech failed ; after which 
she would sing in her heart, lifting up her hands with 
a chearful countenance, and taking her friends by the 
hand, with great affection, and so fell asleep in the 
Lord on the 28th of the Seventh month, in the year 
1684, m tne Seventeenth year of her age, 



TT)AVID BARCLAY, of Urie, in the kingdom of 
*r Scotland, (Father of Robert Barclay, the great 
and eminent apologist for true Christianity) was con- 
vinced of truth in the Seventh month, in the year 
1666, being then "in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and 
abode in the truth, and in the constant unity with the. 
-faithful friends thereof -to the end; having suffered 



96 PIETY PROMOTED. 

the spoiling of his goods, and many other indignities, 
besides several tedious imprisonments, after the sixty- 
sixth year of his age. 

In the latter end of the Seventh month, 1686, being 
past the seventy-sixth year of his age, he was taken 
with a fever, which continued upon him for two 
weeks ; during which time he signified a quiet and 
contented mind, freely resigned up to the will of God. 
About two days before he died, being troubled with 
the gravel, and had much pain in making water, in 
an agony he said, * I am going now;' and then in- 
stantly checking himself, added, i but I shall go to 
' the Lord, and be gathered to many of my brethren, 
c who are gone before me.' Upon the nth day of the 
Eighth month, between two and three in the morning, 
lie growing weaker, his eldest son Robert drew nigh 
to him, and he said, * Is this my son ? ' Robert 
answered, * Yea •,' signifying his travail, that he that 
loved him might be near him to the end : to which 
lie answered, * The Lord is nigh \ repeating it once 
again, lie said, c You are ray witnesses in the presence 
1 of God, that the Lord is nigh :' and a little after he 
said, * The perfect discovery of the day-spring from 
' on high ; how great a blessing h hath been to me 
6 and my family !' Robert Barclay's wife desiring to 
know if he would have something to wet his mouth, 
he answered,' It needs not ;' she said it would refresh 
him ; he then laid his hand upon his breast, saying 
he had that inwardly that refreshed him: and after a 
little while he added, c The truth is over all.' He 
took his eldest son Robert to him,- and blessed him ; 
and he prayed God he might never depart from the 
truth. And when his son's eldest daughter came near, 
he said, ' Is this Patience? let patience have its perfect 
c work in thee.' And after kissing his son's. other four 
children, he laid, his hands upon them, and blessed 
them. And perceiving one by (who was not a friend 
in the truth) weeping much, he wished she might 



PIETY PROMOTED. 97 

come to the truth, bidding her not weep for him 3 but 
for herself. 

A sober man, an apothecary that waited upon him 
in his sickness, coming near, he took him by the hand, 
saying, ' Thou wilt bear me witness, that in all this 
exercise I have not been curious to tamper, nor to 
pamper the flesh/ The man said, c Sir, I can bear 
witness that you have always minded the better and 
more substantial part, and rejoice to see the blessed 
end the Lord is bringing you to : ' he replied, 
Bear a faithful and true witness ; yet it is the life 
of righteousness (repeating these words twice over) 
that we bear testimony to, and not empty profession.' 
He supposing a man that was by him to be a car- 
penter, said to his son, c See thou charge him to 

* make no superfluity upon my coffin.' 

About three in the afternoon there came several 
friends from Aberdeen to visit him, and he took them 
by the hand and said, they were come in a seasonable 
time. And after some words were spoken, ana that 
Patrick Livingston had prayed, which ended in praises, 
he held up his hands and said, ( Amen, Amen, Amen 
( for ever.' And after they stood up, looking at him, 
he said, ' How precious is the love of God among his 

* children, and their love one to another : thereby 

* shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you 
1 love one another. How precious a thing it is to 
6 jee brethren dwell together in love! My love is 

* with you ; I leave it among you.' He perceiving 
some of his friends to weep, said, c Dear friends, all 
c mind the inward man, heed not the outward ; there 

* is one that doth regard, the Lord of Hosts is his 

* name.' And after he had heard the clock strike 
three (in the afternoon) he said, 6 Nov/ the time 

* comes.' And a little after he was heard to say, 

* Praises, praises, praises to the Lord: let now thy 

* servant depart in peace : unto thy hands, O Father, 
1 J commit my soul, spirit and body. Thy will, O 

Vol. I. E 



9 3 PIETY PROMOTED. 

£ Lord, be done on earth as it is In heaven.' And 
so a little after five in the morning, on the 12th day 
of the Eighth month, in the year 1686, he fell asleep 
like a lamb, in remarkable quietness and calmness ; 
there being standing about him, to behold his end, 
about twenty persons, who were witnesses to what is 
above said. 



"JOSEPH FULLER, a young man about twenty- 
*" live years of age, son of Abraham Fuller, of 
Queen's County, in Ireland, having been sick three 
days, bis father desired some relations to sit down, 
and wait upon the Lord in Joseph's chamber : and 
he being asked if it was not tiresome to sit so long, 
his answer was, * I bless the Lord for this oppor- 
' tunity.* And his brother's wife asking him how 
he did, he said, ' I have had a wearisome night-, but 

* 1 have had joy in the presence of the Lord/ Next 
night he sang praises to the Lord, and said to his 
sister, * Never since I was born such words came 

* from me-, this is from the Lord.' And more he 
said to the same purpose to his father. And further 
said to his father, ' Tell all my brothers and sisters, 
1 that they take their minds from the things of this 
1 world, and have their minds fixed upon the Lord.' 
Afterwards, taking his father by the hand, he said, 
4 Farewell, farewell/ Afterwards he said, ' Well, 

* I thought to have gone when I bid you farewell, 

* (his sister being also with his father) but I shall not 

* go yet.' A little while after he said to his sister, 

* Jane, I am long a dying.' 

About a quarter of an hour before he drew his 
last breath, he said to his sister, * See what hour it 

* is :' she replied, c it is seven •/ then he asked her, 
' Lies my head right for dying ? if it doth not lie 

* right, do thou lay it right.' She told him, it did 
lie right : and so he lay until he drew his last breath. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 99 

which was a quarter past the seventh hour in the 
morning, on the 17th of the Seventh month, in the 
year 1686. Aged about twenty-live years. 



"ROBERT WIDBERS, born in Upper Kellet, in 
^- . Lancashire, of honest parents, was a seeker after, 
the Lord and the knowledge of his way •, and when 
George Fox visited those parts, then he received the 
knowledge of the truth, which was in the year 1652. 
He was a faithful servant of Christ, and laboured for 
the good of souls ; and to that end, in the year 1671, 
he travelled with George Fox in divers parts of 
America, as Barbadoes, Virginia, Maryland, Jamaica, 
Long Island, Rhode Island, &c. and great perils they 
went through both by sea and land, and in the wil- 
derness, and lying in the woods, in danger of wild 
beasts, and through all the Lord supported him, and 
kept him faithful to the end. 

He was many times concerned to go to the pub- 
lick places of worship to call the people to repent- 
ance, for which he endured hard sufferings, as at 
Coldbeck steeple-house, where the people threw him 
down among the seatr, afterwards dragged him out 
into the yard, and threw him on the ground, punch- 
ing and beating him so cruelly, that the blood gushed 
out at his mouth, and he lay for dead. 

And for speaking to the people at Acton steeple* 
house, he was sent to Carlisle goal, where he, lay in 
a dungeon among thieves a long time, and was not 
suffered to come out day nor night, till he was re- 
leased, And at Lamplough steeple-house they tore 
the cloathes upon his back, and the hair off his head. 
And in Bishopaulkland, speaking to the people as 
he passed through the town, they stoned him with 
stones, which very sorely bruised his head. 

He afterwards travelled into Scotland with George 
E 2, 



ioo PIETY PROMOTED. 

Fox, and there went to a steeple-house called New 

Munckland, besides many other places, where in the 

fear of God, and love to the people's souls, he was 

constrained to direct them to the word of God in 

their hearts. Through all which sufferings the Lord 

kept and preserved him by his power, blessed be his 

sting name for ever. 

Also, for his faithfulness in his testimony against 

for the true worship of God in spirit and 

truth, he had much spoil of his goods •, but when his 

cattle, corn, and houshold goods were as it were by 

wholesale swept away, he was not in the least dejected 

or concerned, knowing well for what he suffered : his 

loss on these accounts was of considerable value. 

He was faithful, noble and valiant for God's truth 

over all its gainsayers ; though he was not large in 

declaration, yet he was large in integrity and zeal, 

and was endowed with a word of wisdom, and in 

discerning and sound judgment, and gave good ad- 

I monition to friends, for establishing them 

■ faith wherever he came, and the Lord pros- 

his work in his hand. 

I3uri le of his sickness he was in a resigned 

frame given up to the will of God, and spoke 

he mercies of God to his church, saying, l God 

c will comfort Zion, and repair her decayed places, 

* and make her desart as a paradise, and her wilder- 

* ness as a garden of the Lord : mirth and joy shall be 
c found there, thanksgiving, and the voice of praise.* 
At another time, speaking of his own experience, he 
said that the work of righteousness is peace, and the 
effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance for 
ever. And would often upon his death-bed say his 
heart was filled with the love of God ; and that there 
was nothing betwixt him and the Lord. Saying to 
the Lord, ' Thou hast taught me the way of life, and 

* makes me full of life, and makes me full of joy with 
f thy countenance.'" 



PIETY PROMOTED. ici 

His love to God, and good will to his brethren, filled 
his heart with tender and heavenlv comfort, so that 
within two hours before his death, he discoursed sen- 
sibly with friends about him, and passed quietly and 
patiently away, in the First month, 1686, after he had 
been a believer in the truth thirty-four years, being 
then in the sixty-eighth year of his age. 



A NN WHITEHEAD, wife of George Whitehead, 
•* of London, was an early believer in the blessed 
truth; and in the year 1656, she travelled on foot 
about two hundred miles, into Cornwall, to visit 
George Fox and other friends in Launceston prison, 
in that county ; and in that journey convinced many 
people, and some of whom were of account ; and in 
her return confirmed and established several who 
were newly convinced. And she continued a faithful 
woman to the end, and was very serviceable in the 
church of Christ, not only in respect to her ministry, 
but also to the poor widows and orphans, and to the 
sick, whom she did truly consider, and spared not 
herself to serve them who were in distress, so that 
nothing might be wanting. 

In the year 1686, finding herself indisposed in 
health, she went a few miles out of London to a 
friend's house, where continuing weak, about four 
days before her decease, she declared in the presence 
of several, saying, * Friends, I would not have you 
4 too much concerned about me ; as to my going 
' hence, I am in the hand of the Lord : I desire the 

* God of peace and love may be among all friends, 
c and that they may be kept in love, and peace, and 
' concord, unto which we were gathered in the be- 
e ginning ; and that the same that gathered us in the 

* beginning, may always preserve friends in the spirit 

* q£ love, and of the same mind : as the God of love 

£3 



io2 PIETY PROMOTED. 

c and peace may please to dispose of me, I am con- 
' tent in his will/ 

Her ancient friend Mary Stout of Hartford, visiting 
of her, and si e being asked if she knew her, replied, 
4 Yes, very v. ell; it is Mary Stout. I have my memory 
4 very well, and my understanding is clear, though I 
% am very Weak; but I am given up unto the will of 

* the Lord, 'whether to die or live ; for I have been 

* faithful to him in what I knew, both in life and 
1 death.' When she discovered any friends to be 
troubled, she would say, ' There is no cause for you 
4 to be troubled or concerned, for I am well, and in 

* peace, and have nothing to do. 1 

Besides the many seasonabl •, tender and Christian 
exhortations and counsels, which on her dying-bed 
ghe gave, in the love of God, to particular friends, 
friends from London coming to visit her, she 
said, * What do you come on purpose to see me ! I 
1 take it as an efl love of God •, and I pray 

| God bless your children.' Another time to one of 
ime friends, she said, c Remember me to all 

* friends ; and I pray God bless your families, and if 
1 1 never see thy face more, it is Well with me; God- 

h know my integrity, and how I have been, and 

* walked before him ; and I am in charity with all 
' friends ; and be not over careful, or troubled for 
4 me, but be retired and quiet.' And the evening 
before she died, she said to her husband George 
Whitehead, ' The Lord is with me; I bless his 

* name; I am well. It may be, you are afraid I 

* shall be taken away ; and if it be, the will of the 
' Lord be done. L)o not trouble yourselves, nor 
' make any great a-do about me ; but, my dear, go 
' to bed, go to rest ; and if I should speak no more 
( words to thee, thou knowest the everlasting love 
' of God.' And another time said she had done with 
all things in this life ; that she had nothing troubled 
Jic-r, but was at true peace and ease every way, And 



PIETY PROMOTED. 103 

but a few hours before she departed, said, * Though 

* I am in a dying condition, yet it is a living death ; 

* and though weakness doth seize on my body, yet 
4 my understanding and sense is as perfect and clear 

* as when I was in perfect health.' And so, in true 
love and charity with all, she quietly departed this 
life on the 27th of the Fifth month, in the year 1686. 



Of a young Maid about Fifteen Years of Age. 

"OARBARA SCAJF, daughter of William Scaif 
rr'f and Isabel his wife, of Blackside, near Appleby, 
in the county of Westmoreland, with her sister 
Mary, were both of them taken sick on the 30th 
day of the First month, 1686, within one and the 
same hour, of the small-pox, and were both of them 
dutiful children, fearing God, and making profession 
of the principle of light and life in Christ Jesus, 
which the people called Quakers bear testimony to. 

At the beginning of their sickness divers of the 
neighbours came to visit them ; but Barbara said, 

* Mother, suffer but a few to stay; when they have 
' seen us, desire them to go into the house, for we 

* have no need of such empty'talk as is used amongst 
i too many ; we would be quiet, that we may pray 

* to the Lord to forgive us the faults we have com- 
? mitted ; and if he spare us our lives at this time, 

* I hope and believe we shall amend, and have a care 
' of displeasing the Lord while we live.' About the 
seventh day of her sickness she prayed to the Lord, 
saying, ' O Almighty God ! I cry to thee ; blot out 

* all my transgressions, O Lord, and all my sins ; 
6 let them come no more into thy remembrance, 

* I beg it of thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, with 
' all my soul, and with all my strength, and let thy 
€ favourable countenance be upon me.' And also 

. prayed, that the Lord would confirm and strengthen 
E4 



i c 4 PIETY PROMOTED. 

her weak sister, to give up herself freely, as she 
blessed the Lord she herself had done ; and then, 
prayed for her parents ; and many supplications 
besides, for a considerable time, in the presence of 
several people that were not called Quakers, who 
said, * How can any die better than she is like to 
' do?' And to her brother she said, ■ Be faithful 
( to the Lord, and to thy religion,' &c. And being 
asked if she could freely part with her dear relations, 
her answer was, ' I can freely part with, and leave 
1 them all, for the enjoyment of the comfort and 
4 happiness which my soul is made sensible of;' and 
praised the Lord for the riches of his grace and com- 
fort, that she had received from him to her immortal 
b .Mil. And being pressed to receive some meat, she 
Baid, ' Do not trouble me with meat, for if thereby 
' you think to keep me, it is all in vain; for I must 

* die and leave you : neither would I desire to live 

* for .ill the world ; for to be with the Lord is better 
c than ten thousand worlds, with whom I shall rest 
' for evermore, even with God and his saints, his 
1 faithful people and servants : glory to his name for 

* evermore/ 

bhe in her sickness manifested great love to her 
parents, and also to her sick sister Mary, saying, 
4 Go to her, do not stay with me, whatever may 

* befal me •, that too sharp sickness may not fall on 

* her, until she know her peace with God/ &c. And 
to her brother she gave religious counsel, saying, 
' Love the Lord with all thy heart, and with all 
1 thy soul, all thy life time; love not the world, nor 

* the pleasures thereof/ &c. All the time of her 
sickness she was tender in her spirit, and circum- 
spect, not an unbecoming word proceeded out of her 
mouth ; kind and pitiful to those about her, not so 
much concerned at her own sickness, as for them 
who attended her, considering the trouble they had 
in helping her. 



FIETY PROMOTED. ro$ 

That day she had lain a month sick (being much 
like as she had been for three weeks before^ she was 
very chearful, and able to express herself, and said to 
her mother, ' What thinkest thou of this forenoon ?' 
Her mother asked her what she meant : she replied, 
*■ It will go far in my time in this world, for the Lord 
c will ease me ere long, take away all my pain, and 
'• wipe away all tears from mine eye. Call in my 

* father (said she) that he may see my departure.' 
Her father being come, he said, ' Barbara, how dost 

* thou ?' She replied, 'I am ready to leave this world, 

* therefore father and mother be content, and hear 
' me company a little while.' - And about the first 
hour in the afternoon, she "departed this life, as if 
she had fallen asleep, on the 27th of the Second, 
month, in the year 1686. , 



Of her Sister, about Eighteen Years of Age. 

f'ARY SCAIF, elder sister to the aforesaid 
Barbara, taken sick the same hour that she was, 
and for whom her sister Barbara had been often 
tenderly concerned in supplication to God, to give 
her the knowledge of Ills peace that hath no end } and 
who lived about two weeks after her said sister -, her 
sickness being also the small-pox r and in the Lord's 
time, who keepeth covenant, and shews mercy, and 
giveth the spirit of supplication and prayer to them 
that believe, he gave her a- clear understanding, and 
she- prayed unto God as follow-eth : s O great Gody. 
' Jehovah, of heaven and earth, whose splendour 
k iilieth heaven, and thy wonders filleth the earth, 
' have- mercy upon- me thy hand-maid, who am as a. 

* worm before thee, yet part of thy creation : Lord,. 

* help my Weak soul, revive my drooping spirit; by 

* thy consoling presence strengthen my faith* 5* 

£5 



xo6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

* beseech thee, and help me through this exercise ; 

* I beseech thee, Lord, that thy will may be done in 
1 earth, as it is done in heaven ; ' and continued in 
prayer a considerable time, supplicating for a willing 
mind, to resign herself up to God, &c. 

She was much inclined from a child to read the 
holy Scriptures, and she often spoke of Job, and 
David, and others of God's servants in former ages : 

* And now,' said she, * I do know God's love to be 
' the same to me as it was to them ; so that I am 

* neither afraid nor unwilling to die •, for God blot- 
' teth out my transgressions, and lays nothing to my 
■ charge, and I do believe there is a place prepared 

* for me in heaven. And, dear mother, do what 
' thou canst not to sorrow ; my love is great to thee, 
' and my advice is, that you go and live near some 
' good meeting, and bring up my brother amongst 

* friends.' And her sister being dead, she spoke of 
her own death also, and was satisfied that her soul 
should ascend up to God in heaven, ' where' (said 
she) i I believe my sister Barbara's soul is ascended 

* to rest with the Lord for ever.' Her sickness in- 
creasing, she grew weaker, and departed this life on 
the 13th of the Third month, in the year 1686. 



A MARIAH DREWET, of Cirencester, in Glou- 
-^*- cestershire : his life and conversation preached, 
for he was faithful according to the meesure the 
Lord had given him, and turned not his back in time 
of suffering, but rather blessed the Lord that he was 
found worthy to be one of that number to have his 
faith tried ; often praying for his persecutors. 

On the nth of the Seventh month, 1686, he 
was visited with sickness, and the Lord so filled his 
soul with his love and presence, that three days be* 
fore his death he signified if it was the last testimony 



PIETY PROMOTED. io7 

he had to bear, that the love and presence and peace 
of God was with him ; and that he could truly say, 
(as good old Simeon did) that he had seen the salva- 
tion of God. The night before his departure he said 
to his wife, * Go to bed, thou hast need of rest, and 
e give me up to the Lord, whose presence I feel, and 
c I resign up thee ; and may the Keeper of Israel, that 
1 good watchman, that neither slumbers nor sleeps, 
' be with thee. 5 At other times he prayed, i O Lord, 

* strengthen my poor body that I may praise thy 
1 name ; my rest is in thee, &c. Oh ! the largeness 
c of thy love that I feel, O Lord, hear my cries,- 

* and bear up my head in all my exercises. Oh ! thy 

* sweet presence, and fresh springs that I feel ! glory 

* and honour, and praises, be unto thy name for ever/ 
Again, ( Lord help me, and keep me close to thy* T 
c power.' With divers other petitions that he put 
up to the Lord ; admonishing people who came to 
visit him, and warning the young to fear God, and-' 
watch- against those things that did corrupt 'youth;, 
exhorting them to faithfulness, that it might be well' 
with them upon their dying bed, as it was with him. 1 
He uttered many more heavenly expressions, which ' 
are omitted for brevity. He lay half an hour as if 
he had been asleep, and went away quietly without: 
Mgh or groan; and so departed this life on the 25th 1 
of the. Seventh month, in the year 1686. .. 



"BENJAMIN PADLEY, son of William and ; 
•*=* Elizabeth Padley, of North Cave, in the East 
Riding of Yorkshire, was a young man that walked 
in humility, zeal and love towards God, and to all 
who walked in his truth : and the Lord was pleased 
to raise him to bear testimony to his everlasting- 
truth, in the assemblies of his people; and his great 
delight was in the prosperity of the truth, and for 
E-6 



io& PIETY PROMOTED. 

Vnich he faithfully and zealously laboured to the end : 
of his days, having regard to the motion of God's 
spirit in his ministry, and lived according to his tes- 
timony. He was sound, plain, and weighty in his 
declaration, and kept low and humble, in a deep 
sense of the need he had to wait upon God, for the 
renewing of his mercies, and fresh openings of the 
springs of life and love from God, to help him 
forward in his spiritual travail, that he might per- 
severe to the end ; and to which he did much exhort, 
and stir up friends where he came. 

He was taken yick the 17th of Sixth month, 1687, 
which sickness continued about eight days, in which 
time several friends, and also neighbours and rela- 
tions, came to see him ; and in the sense of God's' 
love he declared truth amongst them. There being- 
some present who did not profess the same truth 
with us, he said, ' It is not for any outward thing we'' 
1 travel abroad, not any man's silver or gold that we' 

* seek, or covet after-, but it is for the gaining of 
1 souls : for we have suffered the loss of our goods, 

* scoflings, scornings, and imprisonments, so that it 
' may appear that it hath not been the benefit of any 
' man's goods or estate that hath been in our eye, 

* but for the performing the will of the Lord,' &c. 
And again he said, (several of hie; neighbours being 
present; that it is well for them that can say on their 
dying beds, that their sins and iniquities are blotted 
out. And prayed to the Lord, that he would mix. 
mercies with his afflictions. And exhorted friends 
to faithfulness and righteousness. And observing 
his wife to weep, he said, c O, why dost thou so? 
4 thou muot not do so ; but keep to truth, and fear 

* not but all will be well.' And at night he said to 
her, * Go to bed, and be not troubled about me.' 
And friends visiting him, he said, * I am glad to see' 

* so many of your faces, which I thought I should 
f not have done, being the JLord hath been pleased ta 



PIETY PROMOTED. ic 9 

* visit me with sickness, so that I am not like to 

* continue many clays here; but 1 feel nothing, but 

* all is well.' And when his friends wou T d be care- 
ful about some physician to help him, he said, ' I 

* have a physician the world knows not of.* 

When he drew near his end he desired to be. 
helped upon his knees, and was so powerful in 
prayer to the Lord, considering the weakness of his 
body, that it was an admiration to all present. And 
after that, few words proceeded from him, but he 
weakened apace, and the next day departed this life, 
being the 25th of the Sixth month, in the year 1687^ 



QARAH FEATHERSTONE, daughter of Joseph 
k ^ Featherstone and Sarah his wife, aged about 
fifteen years, was inclined in her tender years to 
hear the voice of wisdom, and to remember her 
Creator in the days of her youth. From a child she 
was harmless, and obedient to her parents, and of a 
meek and quiet spirit, bhe was taken sick the 9th 
of the Seventh month, 1688. 

Her mother coming to her, she told her that she- 
thought she should be taken from her; and when 
her mother would send for a doctor, she said she 
was freely given up to the will of the Lord, whecher 
to live or^ die. And farther said it was shewed 
her that she was not of a long life ; and, s if this be 

* the time of my change, I am content/ Her sick- 
ness increasing, her mother was much concerned 5 
at which she was troubled, and said, c Dear mother, 

* thy dear and tender love to me hath been very 

* great, and in that love i desire we may rest, freely 
' given up to the will of God ; for the Lord may 
4 not see meet to trust me in this wicked world 
c any longer.' And farther she said, c O the abo- 

* minable pride of this world ! arid there are some 



no PIETY PROMOTED. 

* amongst us, which can take liberty to fashion 
' themselves in many things like unto the world, 
4 both in their habit and other needless things : oh ! 

* but the Christian life is another thing j this is not 
1 the adorning that we are to put on ; for if the 

* righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the wicked 
'and ungodly appear?' Her distemper being vio- 
lent, she then said, * Never so sick in my life ; O sick 
' at my heart ! O Lord, in mercy remember me, and 

* bare me up above all my afflictions, for my heart 
' trusteth in thee.' Being asked by her mother 
whether she would be buried by her father, or at 
another burying-place, she answered, ' Dear mother, 

* bury me where thou and my father (her father-in- 

* law) plcaseth, I leave it to you ; it is no matter 

* how many miles distant these bodies lie, our souls 
' shall one day rejoice together \ with more words, 
bidding them about her not to trouble her, or give 
her any thing, without she desired it •, and so lay still 
in a good frame of mind, with a sweet countenance, 
bearing her sickness in much patience; often saying, 

* O my dear and heavenly Father ! come-away, come 
' away, for my heart trusted] in thee.' And so fell 
asleep in the Lord, the i ;th of the Seventh month, 
in the year 1688, aged fifteen years. 



/^EORGE GRAY, of Achorthies, in Scotland, 
^-* was a sufferer for the truth ; a poor man in this 
world, yet rich in faith ; of mean education, yet 
endowed with divine wiscicm, and bore a sound and 
faithful testimony amongst the Lord's people. 

A little before his departure, being rilled wiih the 
power of the Lord, he gave weighty exhortations to 
all present, especially to his children : and to some 
friends that came to see him, he said he had not kept 
back the word and counsel of the Lord from them ; 



PIETY PROMOTED. in 

and now he could say, it was good doctrine, to leave 
nothing to do till a dying bed : so finished his testi- 
mony, and laid down his body the 8th day of the 
Twelfth month, in the year 1689. 



(GEORGE FOX was born in the Fifth month, 
^-* 1624, at Drayton, in Leicestershire. At eleven 
years of age he knew purity and holiness : in the 
nineteenth year of his age, in the year 1643, he left 
all, and travelled up and down the nation, visiting 
many people who were seeking the Lord, until the 
year 1646, at which time he entered into his more 
publick ministry; for he was sent of God, as the 
apostles were in the primitive times, to turn people 
from darkness to light, directing all to mind the light 
of Christ Jesus in their own hearts ; so that in the 
year 1 648, several meetings of friends were gathered 
to God's teaching through his ministry •, in which mi- 
nistry he faithfully laboured forty-four years, through 
much sufferings and many perils of various sorts, as 
by the journal of his life doth largely appear. 

God gave him length of days, so that he saw his 
children in the faith, unto the third and fourth gene- 
ration, to a great increase. And great was his care 
for the preservation of those who had received truth, 
that they might walk in the same ; and to that end 
he gave forth many faithful epistles, and good exhor- 
tation and advice, for good order and discipline in 
the church of Christ, as appears in the collection of 
his epistles to friends. 

He preached the gospel effectually but two days 
before he died, viz. on the nth of the Eleventh 
month, 1690, at Gracechurch-street meeting-house 
in London. After meeting he said, * I am glad I 
* was here ; ; now I am clear, I am fully clear ;' and 
then was the same day taken ill of some indisposition 



in PIETY PROMOTED. 

of body, and continued weak in body for two days, 
at the house of Henry Goldney, in White-hart-court, 
in Gracechurch-street, and lay m much contentedness 
and peace to the end, being very sensible; in which 
time he mentioned divers friends, and . c ent for some 
in particular, to whom he expressed his mind for 
spreading truth and friends 1 book;s in the world ; 
signifying also to seme friends, saying, * All is well,. 
■ and the seed of God reigns over all, and over death 
4 itself ; and that though I am weak in body, yet the 
* power of the Lord is over all, and over all disorderly 
c spirits ;' which were his wonted sensible expressions, 
being in the living faith and sense thereof, which he- 
kept to the end. 

On the 13th of the Eleventh month, in the year 
1690, he quietly departed this life in peace, about the 
tenth hour in the night : so he ended his days in a 
ill t ;stim ny, in perfect love and unity with 
his brethren, being about the Sixty-sixth year of his, 
age. 



TOAN VOKiy.S, wife of Richard Vokins, of the- 
** county of E rks, a faithful woman, and labourer 
in the gospel : after she had received God's blessed"' 
tru'h, .-he was r iuch concerned that her relations also 
might receive the same truth, and by her upright* 
rsation, and good example among them, with 
th >lessihg of God, and assistance of his grace, her 
hus jand, father, and children, received the truth ; and 
her husband was a sufferer for the same, in his im- 
prisonment in Reading goal, and her eldest son also. 
And she having received a dispensation of the gos] I. 
of Jesus Christ to preach to others in this nation,., 
was also concerned in her spirit to pro- 

vinces and islands beyond the seas ; ana in order- 
thereunto took shipping from Grav Kent, 
in the Twelfth month, 1679, and visited New Yorkj 



PIETY PROMOTED. 113 

East and West Jersey, and some part of Pennsylva- 
nia, (which at that time was not much inhabited) 
Long Island, Rhode Island, and New England, and 
"several of the Islands, as Antigua, Nevis, and Bar- 
badoes. 

In her journey to these places she endured -many 
hardships and sufferings of several kinds, yet through 
all she was- supported by the power of Christ, whose 
peace she felt in her soul •, and on the 3d day of the * 
Fourth month, 168 1, she returned from Barbadoes 
to England, and landed at Dover in Kent ; and at 
Sandwich she exhorted the priests and people of that 
town, in their public piace of worship, to forsake 
their vanity, and to come to the spiritual worship of 
God ; and laid before them the danger of the one, 
and the benefit of the ether. 

After her return home to England, she continued 
in her diligence in the Lord's work, and care and 
service in his church, and among his people, to the 
end of her days. And about the yearly meeting time, 
anno 1690, she went up to London to visit friends 
thereabout ; and but a few weeks before ' her death, 
by a letter, dated from London, in the Fourth month 
following, she signified to her dear friend Theophila 
Townsend, (another faithful woman-labourer in the 
gospel at Cirencester) that npw her service was 
finished •, and said, ( I could gladly have laid down 

* my body here among the Lord's worthies, yet seeing 

* it is ordered otherwise, I submit to the will of my 

* God, and do think to go homeward in a little time/ 
The said Joan Vokins aiso said not long before, to 
the said Theophila Townsend, being then witk her, 
that she had some * papers, which she desired might 
be made publick after her decease, expecting her time 
was not long to remain in the body, being well satis- 

* Which Papers are printed, intituled, God's Mighty Powef 
xnagnified, &c, 



U4 PIETY PROMOTED. 

fied that she should lay down her head in peace with 
God, let death come when it would. And according 
to the sight she had, and what she said, the time of 
her decease was near at hand, for she did not live to 
get home after she wrote the letter aforesaid in the 
Fourth month at London ; but coming to Reading, 
there she fell sick, and upon her dying-bed spoke to 
her son, Richard Vokins, as followeth: * Son, my 
4 weakness is great, and my pains very strong-, but 
4 the Lord is large in his love to me, and good to me; 
1 he gives me patience to bear my pains, which are 

* strong. Ah, son, I have learned a good lesson, 
1 Paul's lesson, in all stales to be content; and now I 

* have nothing to do but to die.' So putting forth 
her hnnd to take her leave of him, she farther said, 
' Son, remember the Lord, and he will remember 
4 thee : remember my love to thy wife, and to all my 

* children.' And after a little stop, and her speech 
Jow, she spoke these words again, * and he will re- 

* member you ; and be you faithful to him, and he 
1 will bless you, and you shall be blessed/ 

She departed this life the 22d of the Fifth month, 
in the year 1 690, having finished her course, and kept 
the faith. 



pOBERT LODGE, of the county of York, was 
-*-*■' convinced of truth in the year 1660, and was a 
faithful minister of Christ Jesus, and a valiant sufferer 
for the testimony of a good conscience. He travelled 
in the work of the gospel, both in this nation and in 
Ireland, and turned many to righteousness, and did 
build up many in the most holy faith : he was not 
only a planter but a waterer in the vineyard, a son of 
consolation indeed. 

The time of his sickness was but short ; a friend 
visiting of him, he gave account of his infirmities, 
and questioned his recovery : but he said, * The Lord 



PIETY PROMOTED. 115 

f knows my heart, that I have served him ; and It hath 
' been of more account to me, the gaining of one soul, 
' than ail my labours and travels/ And the friend 
going again the next day s and seeing him near his end, 
was sorrowful 5 to whom he said, * What, we must 
' meet again, we must meet again in eternity j' and 
put up many heavenly petitions to the Lord. And 
another friend taking leave of him, he called him by 
his name, and said, ' It is well with me, and I have 

* no disturbance in my mind.' And again he said, 

* The Lord knows I was never commissioned to go 

* any way, or to do any thing, but I have willingly 
? answered him ; and the Lord, who hath been my 
c rock and refuge, my shield and buckler, and a sanc- 

* tuary to me, hath been with me all along to this very 

* day.' And spoke much more in praises to the Lord 
for his many deliverances, praying for the continuance 
of God's life and love to his whole heritage. After 
which he spoke little, but, that all was well with him ; 
and said, * Blessed be God, * I have heavenly peace j' 
and so fell into a sweet sleep, and went away, being 
on the 15th of the Seventh month, in -the year 169Q* 



STEPHEN CRISP, of Colchester in Essex, re- 
^ ceived the blessed truth about the year 1655, 
when he was about twenty-seven years of age, and 
was a preacher of the everlasting gospel of Christ 
Jesus about thirty-five years ; and in that service 
he travelled in many parts of England, Scotland, 
Holland, Germany, and the Low Countries (as by 
the printed Journal of his life more largely appears) 
and endured many hardships for his faithful testimony 
to the blessed truth. He was greatly capable, through 
his long experience, to advise and give counsel to 
persons in all conditions. 

In the latter part of his days, being unable to travel 



1 1 6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

mudi, through an indisposition of body, yet he was 
diligent in preaching the gospel in Colchester and 
London. He lay some time under great exercise 
and weakness, occasioned by a stone in his bladder 5 
and about four days before he died, being under 
much bodily weakness znd pain, he said to George 
Whitehead, who came to visit him, ' I see an end 

* of mortality, yet cannot come at it : I desire the 
c Lord to deliver me out of this troubLsome and 

* painful body ; if he will but say the word, it is 

* done: yet there is no cloud in my wav ; I have a 
4 full assurance of 1 i with God in Christ 

* Jesus; my inl 1 uprightness of heart is 
' known to the Lord, and I have peace and justifi- 

* cation in Christ Jesus, who made me so;' (that is, 
upright to Godj and remembered his love to all t 1 j 
faithful in the church of God. And to another 
friend he said, ' I have fought the good fight of 
' faith, and have run my course, and am waiting 

* for the crown of life that is laid up for me.' And 
to another friend that visited him, he said, ' Serve 
' the truth for the simple truth's sake, and it will 
' preserve thee to the end, as it hath done me.' And 
in his great pain of body, feeling the word of pati- 
ence to support him, he said to the friends watching 
with him, * Grow in the word of patience, that it 

* may keep you also in the time of need.' And the 
day before he died, he said, ' I hope I am gathering 
(as his expression was understood) • I hope, I hope,' 
being then hardly able to speak out his words. 
George Whitehead, near parting from him, said a 

* Dear Stephen, wouldst thou have any thing to 

* friends V After some pause, he gave this answer, 

* Remember my dear love in Christ Jesus to all/ 
And on the 28th day of the Sixth month, in the 

. year 1692, he died in the Lord, at Wandsworth, 
near London, about the Sixty-fourth year of his age* 



PIETY PROMOTED. 117 

/^TJLIELMO MARIA PENN, wife of William 
^* Perm, of Pennsylvania, and daughter of Sir 
William Springet of Durling : her illness continued 
eight months upon her, in which time she uttered 
many living and weighty expressions upon divers 
occasions, both before and near her end. At one of 
the meetings held in her chamber, only her husband 
and children, and one of the servants being present, 
in a living power she said, * Let us all prepare, not 
4 knowing what hour, or watch, the Lord ccmeth, 
4 O I am full of matter ! Shall we receive good, and 

* shall we not receive evil at the hands of the Lord ? 
( I have cast my care upon the Lord, he is the phy- 
' sician of value ; my expectation is wholly from 

* him •, he can raise up, and he can cast down/ 
A while after she said, ' O what shall be done to 
4 the unprofitable servant! 5 At another meeting, 
before which much heaviness seemed to lie upon her 
natural spirits, she said, ' This has been a precious 
c opportunity to me, I am finely relieved and com- 

* forted, blessed be the Lord.' At another time, 
her husband speaking to her of the peace of well- 
doing, she replied to him, * I never did, to my 

* knowledge, a wicked thing in all my life.' To a 
friend aged seventy-five years, that, came to see her, 
she said, l Thou and I, to all appearance, are near 
■' our end.' And to another about sixty-five years 
old, who came also to see her, she said, ' How 
4 much older has the Lord made me by this weak- 
c uess than thou art ! But I am content, I do not 

* murmur, I submit to his holy will.' In the height 
of her sickness she said, c It is the great goodness 

* of the Lord that I should be able to lie thus still ; 
' he is the physician of value to me, can I say ; let 

* my tongue set forth his praise, and my spirit mag- 
-* nify him whilst I have breath : O j I am ready to 

* be transported beyond my strength. God was 
E * not in the thunder, nor in the lightning -, but he 



n8 riETY PROMOTED. 

* was heard in the small still voice.' She called the 
children one day, when very weak, and said, ' Be 
' not frighted, children, I do not call you to take my 

* leave of you, but to see you ; and would have you 
1 walk in the fear of the Lord, and with his people 
c in his holy truth.' Speaking another time solemnly 
to her children, she said, ' I never desired any great 

* thing "., but that you may fear the Lord, 
1 and walk in his truth among his people, to the end 
4 of your day;.' 

About three hours before her end, a relation 
taking leave of her, she said, ' I have cast my care 
n the Lord •, my dear love to all friends:' and 
> up her living hands and eyes, prayed to the 
Lord to preserve them and bless them. About an 
hour after, all to withdraw, m which time 

she took 1 f her husband, saying all that 

was fit upon that solemn occasion. She con- 
tinued I, and eat something about an hour 
before her departure, at which time her children, 
and most of the family being present, she quietly 
expired in her husband's arms, with a sensible and 
devour resignation of her soul to Almighty God, on 
the 23d of the Twelfth month, in the year 1693, in 
the Fiftieth year of her age. 



T)ATRICK LEVINGSTON, was born in the year 
-*- 1634, near Montross, in the kingdom of Scotland: 
he received the blessed truth about the year 1659, 
and travelled much in the service thereof, bearing a 
faithful testimony to the same for above thirty years, 
in many parts of England and Ireland, and most 
places in Scotland, where he was made a good in- 
strument in convincing and gathering many to the 
knowledge of the inward appearance of Christ Jesus, 
particularly that meeting settled at Kinermuck in. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 119 

Aberdeen county (the largest meeting in all the na- 
tion), and in which county he valiantly and patiently 
endured several years close imprisonment in Aber- 
deen, for his faithful testimony to the truth, viz. 
from the year 1676 to 1679; and he likewise bore a 
faithful testimony for truth, by imprisonment in 
Newgate in London, for a considerable time, about 
the year 1684: and valiant he was for the truth, 
especially in times of persecution, good soldier-like, 
he never turned his back in the day of battle, but 
through the strength of the Lord was still amongst 
the first in suffering, being fervent and zealous for 
the cause, of truth and honour of God, so that his 
persecutors were sensible that he was a strengthening 
to his brethren in prison ; and therefore, that it might 
not be so, they would several times let him go, or 
miss some meeting he was known to be at : faithful 
he was to his brethren in their afflictions, and would 
not leave them, till he saw an end to that perse- 
cution in Scotland in the year 1679 ; and from that 
time no friend was imprisoned for several years in 
that city. After which he returned into England 
to his dear wife, who at that time dwelt in Notting- 
ham, but in his latter years, he with his family lived 
in London 5 and he continued to the end a diligent 
labourer in the Lord's vineyard, several times visit- 
ing his native country of Scotland •, and the year 
before he died, viz. 1693, ne "^ again visit his 
brethren there, and was attended with a plentiful 
measure of the Lord's power and presence, all the 
time he was among them, though at that time weak 
in body. After his return home he grew weaker, until 
he departed this life on the 15th of the Fourth month, 
1694, at the house of John Kirton, in Kensington, 
near London, being removed thither for the benefit 
of the air, where several friends were present wit- 
nesses of the following heavenly expressions, viz. 
The day before his departure he said, * I am in 



120 PIETY PROMOTED. 

f unity with all faithful friends, and in love to all 
1 men.' About an hour before his departure, he 
said, * O Father ! O Father ! ' A little time after, 
mentioning his weakness of body, and as if he de- 
sired more strength to utter what was in his mind, 
which being then apparently given him, he said, 

* Let life reach unto all here : ' and pulling off his 
night-cap with his own hand, about half an hour 
before he was removed hence, he said, ' Blessed, 
c praised, magnified, and exalted, be the mighty, 
' powerful, great, and everlasting name of the Lord 
1 God for evermore. Oh ! that thy life may arise 
' in full dominion over all, and that friends may 
1 feel it so in all their assemblies ; that they may 
1 be kept in love, concord and' unity together, and 
1 shew it forth in word, work, testimony, life and 

* conversation unto all ;' adding, * life being over 

* all: here we have all we need, and here there is a 

* lying clown in true submission to the will of the 

* Lord, and laying down our heads in peace and rest 
c with him for evermore.' Which last words he 
repeated twice, and said, ' Here is victory over 
' deatli, hell, and the grave, and resting in peace 

* with the Lord for evermore.' 

He died on the 15 th of the Fourth month, in 
the year 1691, about the Sixtieth year of his age. 



ANDREW SOWLE, of London, received the 
-^*- truih as professed by the people called Quakers, 
in his young years, and became obedient thereunto, 
and gave himself up to the living power thereof, 
which enabled him with much chearfulness to under- 
go those manifold afflictions and persecutions with 
which he was exercised; for being a just and up- 
right man, he was zealous for the propagation of 
the truth, to w r hich (both by conversation and suffer- 
ings) he bore a faithful testimony. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 14 i 

He was a printer by trade, and engaged himself 
freely in the printing friends books, when he had 
large offers of advancing himself in the world, made 
to him by his other friends and relations, if he would 
have desisted therefrom : but his love to truth, and 
the desire he had to be instrumental in his calling 
for the spreading it abroad, would not suffer him to 
hearken to any of those offers ; but he freely gave 
himself up to the service thereof, even in times o£ 
the hottest persecution, believing it his duty so to 
do, though therein he should hazard not only his 
life, but also that outward substance God had bles- 
sed him with : being for several years together in 
continual danger upon that account, his house being 
often searched, and his printing materials, as presses, 
letter, &c. as often broke to pieces, and taken away, 
as any friends books were found printing by him j 
and this they did for many years together : during 
which time, though he met with great losses, and 
had, at one time by his adversaries, about a thousand 
reams of printed books taken from him, yet he was 
never heard to complain, but would say, he was 
glad he had any thing to lose for truth, and that the 
Lord had made him worthy to be a sufferer for it : 
which quiet resignation of himself to the will of 
God, caused one of those that came to seize upon 
his goods, to do what he could with his partners to 
put a stop to the seizure ; and when he saw he 
could not prevail, he went out and wept. And 
when at another time his adversaries came to take 
away his printing house, he was so resigned and. 
easy, in giving up all to his persecutors, that when 
they had done their work, and seized upon all, he 
(as he often did in the like cases) set forth meat and 
drink before them, according to the command, Rom. 
xii. 19, 20. to feed even his very enemies: and his 
good so overcame their evil, that some of them de- 
parted under a concern ; but one of the chief being 

Vol. I. F 



122 PIETY PROMOTED. 

filled with malice against the truth, survived not 
long after, but died in a miserable condition. 

As this sincere man met with great sufferings, so 
had he also large experiences of the goodness of God 
towards him in many remarkable providences: as at 
c;ie time he was taken at a meeting of the people 

d Quakers, and carried to Newgate, and being 
examined by Sir Richard Brown, the persecuting 
feiayor, who understanding he was a printer, threaten- 
ed to send him after his brother Twin, (as lie called 
him, who some time before suffered in Smkhiield 

tinting a treasonable book) to whom this meek 
man replied, ' Thou wilt not live to see it:' and the 
event justified it, for Brown died so:m after. 

And after many exercises and trials divers ways, 
h it would be too long to recite) he was visited 
with weakness of body the beginning of the Tenth 
month, i o.j 5, and grew weaker and weaker till the 
25th of the same month : his patience and resignation 
to the will of God, during the time of his weakness, 
he seldom was heard to complain, 
but would say, he was given up to the will of God ; 

Lg often, that he had no dependance on any 
thing, save upon Christ Jesus, the good Samaritan, 
on whom was his whole dependance. 

George Whitehead, with another friend, coming 
to visit him, he said he had served truth faithfully, 
according to what the Lord had been pleased to 
make manifest to him ; and that in what he had 
done, he had not sought himself, but the honour of 
God. He would often exhort his family to faith- 
fulness, and the young ones also to seek the Lord in 
the days of their youth. His reproofs to those that 
had done amiss, were so kind and so convincing, 
that a servant of his said he stood more in awe of a 
reproof from him, than the severest treatment from 
another : * His end' said he, ' being in love to con- 
* vince me, that I have done that which is not right. 1 



PIETY PROMOTED. 123 

William Penn, the night before he departed, 
came somewhat late to visit him, and finding him in 
a sweet composed frame of mind, (for indeed he 
was to appearance as though lie ailed nothing) asked 
him how he did ; he answered with much chear- 
fulness, his satisfaction and peace of mind was great, 
and that he waited for his change. The said 
friend, who had been many years acquainted with 
his industrious, and yet innocent life, .after some 
discourse with him, kneeled down and prayed that 
the Lord would give him the reward of his labour; 
for through him many blessed truths had been brought 
into the world, &c. After prayer was ended, he 
acknowledged William Penn's love, telling him he 
was well satisfied in his condition, and in the truth 
of God which he had professed-, and that he had 
nothing to do, but to wait in ,the will of God till 
his change came : and so in much love they parted, 
he signifying his love to, and unity with all friends, 
in the truth. After that, he lay sweetly retired 
waiting for his change, and had his senses perfect 
-and clear to the last, which was about eight the next 
morning, at which time his wife came to his bedside, 
and asked him how he did ; he answered, c Oh Jane, 
1 never such a good night as this :' and the same 
minute shut his eyes, and with a hymn of praise to 
God, offered up his last breath, and fell asleep, not 
so much as fetching the least sigh, or any alteration 
seen in his countenance \ so easily and so quietly 
did he leave this world, in which he had known 
much exercise, and is gone to his everlasting rest, 
with the rest of God's faithful servants. 

He finished this life the 26th of the Tenth month, 
in the year 1695, about eight in the morning, at his 
-house in Holyvvell-lane, London, In the Sixty-seventh * 
year of his age. 

Rom. viii. 18. For I reckon, that the sufferings of this present time, 
are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be 
revealed in us. 



i24 PIETY PROMOTED. 

CPR1NGET PENN, eldest son of William Perm 
^ of Worminghurst, late of Pennsylvania, was a 
young man about Twenty-one years of age. For 
more than half a year before it pleased the Lord to 
visit him with weakness, he grew more retired, and 
much disengaged from youthful delights, shewing a 
remarkable tenderness in meetings, even when they 
were silent j but when he saw himself doubtful he 
turned his mind and meditations more apparently 
towards the Lord, often praying with fervency to 
the Lord, and utterin:;; many thankful expressions 
■j>va\ praises to him, in a deep and sensible manner, 
saying one day, * I am resigned,, what God pleaseth ; 

* he knows what is best : I would live if it pleased 
4 him, that I might serve him : but, O Lord, not my 
4 will, but thy will be done.' One speaking to him 
of the tilings of this world, he answered, * My eye 

* looks another way, where the truest pleasure is/ 
Another time, his father going to a meeting, at 
parting he said, ' Remember me, my dear father, 
4 before the Lord. Though I cannot go to meetings, 
4 yet have i many good meetings: the Lord comes 
4 in upon my spirit : I have heavenly meetings with 
4 him by myself.' With mo- e to the same purpose, 
expressing his sentiments of the vanity of this world, 
and of his entering into secret covenant with the 
Lord, and his thankfulness for the Lord's preservation 
and goodness to him. Fixing his eyes upon his 
sister, he took her by the hand, saying, l Poor Tishe, 
4 look to good things ; poor child, there is no comfort 
4 without it. One drop of the love of God is worth 
4 more than all the world •, I know it, I have tasted 
4 it, I have felt as much, or more of the love of God 
4 in this weakness, than in all my life before;' with 
n ore that he said to his father. 

Taking something one night in bed, just before 
his going to rest, he sat up, and reverently prayed 
tl us : ■ O Lord God, thou whose Son said to his 



PIETY PROMOTED. ^125 

c disciples, whatever ye ask in my name ye shall 
i receive ; I pray thee in his name, bless this to me 
c this night, and give me rest, if it be thy blessed 

* will, O Lord :' and accordingly he had a very 
comfortable night, of which he took thankful notice 
the next day. At another time he expressed his 
desire to serve the Lord if he. lived. He one day 
saying thus, ' I am resolved I will have such a thing 
c done;' immediately catched himself, and fell into 
this reflection with much contrition, * O Lord for- 

* give me that irreverent and hasty expression ; I am 
'a poor weak creature, and live by thee, and there- 

* fore I should have said, If it pleaseth thee that I 
c live, I intend to do so or so : Lord forgive my rash 
' expression/ And desired his mother-in-law not 
to trouble herself for such a poor creature as he j 
and to pray for him, that he might live and employ 
his time more in the Lord's service. And to his 
brother he said, looking awfully upon him, ' Be a 

* good boy, and know there is a God, a great and 

* mighty God, who is a rewarder of the righteous, 

* and so he is of the wicked ; but their rewards are 

* not the same. Have a care of idle company, and 

* love good company, and good friends, and the 

* Lord will bless thee. I have seen good things for 

* thee since my sickness, if thou dost but fear the 
-* Lord; and if I should not live, remember what I 

* say when I am dead and gone,' Sec. with many 
more religious expressions. Taking his leave of his 
father, brother, and sister, he said, ' Come life, come 

* death, I am resigned. Oh ! the love of God 
' overcomes my soul.' ^Feeling himself decline apace, 
and one seeing him not able to bring up the matter 
that was in his throat, went to fetch the doctor ; 
hut so soon as he came, he said, * Let my father 

* speak to the doctor, and I'll go sleep -,' which he 
did, and waked no more. 

He died the ioth of the Second month, in the 
year 1696, in the Twenty-first year of his age. 



126 « PIETY PROMOTED. 

OICHARD BAKER, of Jordan's in Buckinham- 
-* shire, received the truth in the love of it, many 
years since, and lie testified his love to it, 

ist. In a circumspect walking, shewing himself 
a pattern of good works. 

2dly. By suffering chearfully for it, and took 
joyfully the spoiling of his goods, and the imprison- 
ment of his body •, and would often say, ' If p 
1 knew but the pleasure of godliness, they would not 
* live in the earth as they didV 

jdly. By a heart v zeal for the prosperity and 
;ation of it : a vigilant watchman he was in his 
station, a sharp reprover of evil, and an encourager 
of the £ook\, and a diligent labourer in the work of 
the ministry, earnestly endeavouring to bring those 
he ministered to, into an inward exercise of spirit 
towards Go!, that therein they might be more 
acquainted with, and subject to the divine power of 
God : concerning which he writ a treatise, published 
Since be deceased, although it was writ about twenty- 
six wars before; the reasons whereof he gave upon 
his dying-bed, viz. That he had read of many in 
former days, and had observed some 111 his own time} 
who had made fair progress in the way of truth; 
ami had said, done, and suffered much on behalf of 
it, who yet had not held out to the end ; but through 
too great security, or self-confidence, and for want 
of a continual subjection to the power of God, in 
and by which alone strength and preservation is to 
be found, have by the violent assaults, or subtle 
insinuations, and mysterious workings of the enemy, 
been drawn back again under the power of satan, 
to the invalidating (at least in the eye of the world) 
the testimonies such had before given to the suf- 
ficiency of the power of God ; and that he having 
by others miscarriages learned to beware, had, from 
a godly jealousy over himself, suspended the pub- 
lication of the said sheets, until he could with greater 



PIETY PROMOTED. 127 

confidence, and more full assurance, say with the 
holy apostle, when the time of his departure was at 
hand, " I have fought a good fight, I have finished 
my course, I have kept the faith," # &c. which be- 
spoke his great modesty. And upon his dying-bed, 
he had the witness in himself that God was pleased 
with him, and had a suitable word to every one's 
state that came to him, and would often clap his 
hand on his breast, and say, * All is well here.' 

The day before he departed, many friends visiting 
him, he spoke to all in great expressions of love, and 
took his leave of them ; and taking his leave of a 
child who wept, he said, ' Do not cry, I am well, 

* my peace is made with the Lord ; if thou cry, cry 
1 that iniquity may be brought down, and righteous- 

* ness brought up : the power of God, and strength 
' of God is with me ; I am going the way of all 
1 flesh, I am going before, and others must follow 
1 after/ So he laid down his life, in the feeling of 
that power, about the year 1697. • 



T>OBERT BARROW, born in the county of 
**' Lancaster, but removed and brought up from a 
child in Westmoreland, was early convinced of God's 
blessed truth, and was a zealous labourer in the 
gospel for twenty-six years, and a faithful sufferer 
for the same in London, and other places ; travelling 
much in this nation, and twice through Scotland, 
Ireland, and Wales, to preach Christ Jesus, the light 
of the world. 

In the year 1694 he went forth in the love of 
God, in company with Robert Wardel of Sunderland 
(both of them being ancient men) to preach the 
gospel in America : and after they had visited Penn- 

* 2 Tim. iy. 6. 

F4 



i:8 PIETY PROMOTED. 

sylvania, and some other parts on the continent, 
they took shipping for Jamaica, where Robert Wardel 
died the 226. day of the Second month, in the year 
1696. And after Robert Barrow had finished his 
testimony there, he took shipping in order for Penn- 
sylvania again, and on the 23d of the Sixth month, 
1696, embarked with divers passengers and seamen 
on board the barkentine Reformation, Joseph. Kirle 
master j but on the 23d of the Seventh month, by a 
storm in the Gulph of Florida, the vessel run a- 
ground, and to save their lives, they were forced 
among the savage canibals of Florida, and underwent 
grievous sufferings of various kinds, being often in 
great danger of death; travelling naked in heat and 
cold, hunger and thirst, and having no proper food 
to eat from their suffering shipwreck, viz. from the 
23d of the Seventh month, to the 15th of the Ninth 
month following: at last they arrived at a poor 
garrison town called S:. Augustine, belonging to 
the Spaniards in America, maintained half by the 
king of Spain, and half by the pope ; but the gover- 
i^.or, S:c. were courteous and generous, according 
to their ability, who, after they had cloathed and 
refreshed them, assisted them to Carolina, which 
province they reached on the 23d of the Tenth 
month, 1696; but several of their company died 
under the hardships they met with j and Robert 
Barrow, by feeding upon such unwhole c ome food 
(that little which they did eat) was taken with a flux, 
which continued upon him, together with the great 
sufferings he underwent in his journeys, being an- 
cient : he was thereby much decayed in his body ; 
but his desire was to see his friends once more 
in Philadelphia, and he reached Philadelphia from 
Charles Town in Carolina, in fourteen days. 

One remarkable passage I may not omit; viz. the 
company Robert Barrow was with, to save their 
lives, assumed the name, of Spaniards, (for the savage 



PIETY PROMOTED. 129 

Indians stood in fear of them) and this true-hearted 
man being directly asked the question, * Art thou: 
* a Nickaleer ?' which is an Englishman; he answered, 
' Yes :' though for his plain dealing he was stripped 
naked of his cloaths, which till then he had saved 3 
God not suffering these savages to touch his life, 
nor the lives of those with him j though at one time 
these bloody creatures placed themselves each behind 
one, having their arms extended, with their knives 
in their hands ready to execute their bloody design, 
some taking hold of them by their heads, with their 
knees set against their shoulders, waiting for their 
cassekey, or chief, to begin : they were very high 
in words, which they understood not; but on a 
sudden it pleased God to work wonderfully for their 
preservation, and instantly all these savage men 
were struck dumb, and like men amazed for the 
space of a quarter of an hour ; in which time their 
countenances fell, and they looked like another peo- 
ple, and quitted the places they had taken behind 
them, and fell to plundering their chests and trunks.. 
But to return to our friend Robert Barrow, v/ho 
behaved himself under all those calamities in great 
patience, and by faith overcame even the worst o£ 
men, looking to him who is invisible, who by his- 
grace supported him under all. And by prayer he 
wrestled with God, to be delivered from those un- 
reasonable creatures, desiring to lay his bones among; 
his faithful friends in Philadelphia. And God was - 
so gracious, that he sealed an assurance upon his- 
spirit , even before he was yet off his knees, that his- 
prayer was; heard, and should be answered in due- 
time. And great strength and comfort he was to his 
companions in affliction. 

When he arrived at Philadelphia, divers friends 

went on board to help him on shore, but he was 

so weak that he could not be removed that night,. 

being the 4th of the Second month, 1697, but he- 

£5 



130 PIETY PROMOTED. 

signified to friends his great satisfaction, that the 
Lord had granted his request, that he might lay 
down his bones in that place ; that his heart was 
strong, and he hoped he might see friends again at 
the meeting ; and he made mention of the goodness 
of God to him, and that his presence had attended 
him in all his exercise. Next morning he was 
removed to the house of Samuel Carpenter, where 
he slept a considerable time : the same day friends 
coming to visit him, he rejoiced, putting forth his 
hand ready to embrace them, to whom he said, 

* Although my body be weak, my mind is sound 

* and memory good ; and the Lord hath been very 
4 good to me all along to this very day, and this 
1 morning hath sweetly refreshed me.' And farther 
added, * The Lord hath answered my desire, for I 
4 desired content, and that I might come to this 

* place to lay my bones amongst you.' And after- 
wards said, * It is a good thing to have a conscience 

* void of offence, both towards God and towards 
men.' And on the day that he died, he desired a 
friend to write to his friends in England, and to 
acquaint his relations that he had settled his affairs; 
and afterwards declared to divers friends that were 
by him, that the Lord was with him, and all things 
were well, and that he had nothing to do but to 
die : and accordingly on the same day he departed 
this life in peace with God, being the 4th of the 
Second month, in the year 1697, and was buried 
the 6th of the same in friends' burying-ground in 
Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. 



rpUDOR BRAIN, of London, a youth about 
-*- Seventeen years of age, was taken ill about the 
Tenth month, 1696, and from that time decayed 
daily, falling into a deep consumption till the Tenth 



PIETY PROMOTED . 13 % 

month following ; he being jn the country for Ms 
health, where he was often observed to be in retire- 
ment in the fields, sometimes returning with wet eyes 
and his friend's apprehending it might proceed from 
his distemper, or else from fear of death, his fre- 
quent answers were, he was no ways afraid to die* 
but willingly resigned himself to the will of God, 
either for life or death. About a month before he 
died, he was taken so ill, as not able to go out of 
his chamber, and so continued, being daily with a 
great sense of God upon his spirits, and w^ould often 
repeat a full assurance of his future happiness,, 
saying, 6 Come Lord Jesus, come quickly, and re- 

* ceive my soul/ A few days after, he called for a 
bible, desiring to read ; his mother's answer was, 
' Child, thou art weak y- he said, he could read •,- and 
so read the 17th chapter of John with trembling- 
lips ; when he came to the 2cth verse, viz. " Neither 
" pray I for these alone, but for them also which 
** shall believe on me through their word ;" he took 
particular notice, and wept. On the day before he 
departed he fell so ill, they thought he was smitten 
With death ; and several friends, as well their as 
before, visiting him, with which, he. was much re- 
freshed and comforted, and' said, *0 mother, hcw. 

* merciful is the great God to me, that hath put it 
i in the hearts of good friends to visit, me! for 
' there are healthier and younger lads than- 13 that 
'* are gone before me a poor consumptive lad-;; he 

* hath spared me, surely I shall neVer forget his. 
'mercies/ And to the Lord he said, ( Oh ! glory,. 
'■ glory and praises, for they are thine for evermore/ 
Then sitting still, he said, * Oh ! thou merciful God 9 . 
'thou art merciful, I can say that I have found it 
*'so ; that when I had no breath, I have sought thee, 
6 and it hath been given me/ His parents hearing 
him,, they wept; but he answered, ' Wherefore are 

* ye troubled, my dear parents ? Be not troubled 

E6 



132 PIETY PROMOTED. 

* for me, for I am going to a better place ; if it be 

* the will of the Lord, he can raise me ; but if not, 

* his will be done : it may be he may spare me two 
' or three days.' Turning his eyes on his parents, 
he said, ' You are the nearest in the world to me, 
' but yet there is a nearer that is above. ' After 
some silence he said, * I can say, that in my younger 
1 years I have gone by myself down into the mea- 
' dows, and have cried to the Lord, but knew not 
c where lie was •, and when I heard his voice I treni- 
1 bled, and as I gave up, the Lord Jesus made 
'himself known unto me; then I knew what I 

* sought for :' with more concerning a vision he had 
of his future happiness, and testified against super- 
fluity in the \v \i . 

Abe.,; twelve hours before his death, a near re- 
lation desiring, on behalf of those present, that they 
might be fitted for their latter end, he said, ' You 
4 must pray, and hang and lean upon the Lord Jesus 

* Christ : for it is of him, and through him, that we 

* must expect salvation : for without hirn ye can do 

* nothing ; for lie died for sinners, and he is merci- 
1 ful to forgive, for he hath forgiven me, blessed be 
' his holy name. Although some be hardened and 
' stubborn, yet the Lord is merciful, he can and may 
' forgive ; but you that are in the truth, keep in the 
1 truth :' with more which he said, concerning remem- 
bering our Creator betimes, and concerning death. 

About two hours before he died, he prayed thus ; 

* Lord God be merciful, thou art good, thou art 
' bountiful : Lord have mercy on me, [O death !] 
4 come Lord Jesus, have mercy : thou diedst for sin- 
4 ners ; glory, glory to the God of heaven ! oh ! 
c praises to thy name : Lord Jesu^ receive my soul : ' 
with more that he said to his father an^l mother. 
And lying still a little, he s; id, ' O what a glorious 
' kingdom I am going to ! there is dainties enough. 
[ Lord Jesus thou hast pardoned me, O what a 



PIETY PROMOTED. r 3 £ 

* numerous army hath my God ! He hath a great 

* one.' A rut so lay praising God till he finished this 
life, about two in the morning on- the 3d of the- 
Tenth month, in. the year 1697.. 



Concerning a Child of Nine Years old. 

HPHOMAS HAINS, son of Thomas Hains and 
■*■ Hannah his wife, of South wark, in the county 
of Surry, was educated in the way of truth, as pro- 
fessed by the people called Quakers, by his father - 9 
and also for some time at the school of Richard 
Scoryer of Wandsworth ; he was a dutiful child, and 
had a sense of the fear of God upon his heart, sa 
that during his sickness he behaved himself more 
like a man than an infant, (as he called himself) hav- 
ing a care, lest he should say any word amiss ; and 
if he refused to take any thing offered to him, and 
was again pressed to take it, he replied, * Wouldest 
•thou have me tell a lie?' Once having refused 
something, he was desired to promise to take it in 
such a time ; his answer was, * Can I tell what is to 

* come ?' And when he took that which he found 
refreshed him,, he did with much thankfulness ac- 
knowledge it •, being also very sensible of the love 
and tender regard which his parents had towards, 
him, and expressed it several times to them. And 
he did with much patience bear his sickness, and' 
often expressed his willingness to die ; saying, 'It 

* is better for me to die \ is a troublesome world ; and 
( and we should every day and every moment, think. 
c upon the Lord/ And a few days before his decease* 
he uttered many expressions in prayer and praises to 
the Lord, saying, * Thou art a God of love, thou art 

* a God of mercy, thou knows the hearts of them that 

* love thee, thou, knows the hearts of them that seek 



r 3 4- PIETY PROMOTED. 

€ thee. Lord remember thy people. Thou knowest 
c the hearts of the ungodly, thou knowest the hearts 

* of the wieked -, thou hast nourished and brought up 

* children, and they have rebelled against thee.' lie 
also spoke of the care we ought to take of the never- 
dying sou!, and that the Lord will send forth his 
messengers. Another time, expressing his inward 
satisfaction of a future state, he said, * Glory, glory ; 
'joy, joy; come mother, come father, come alJ y 
1 it is a brave place, there is no tears nor sorrow :' 
and praised God, saying, 'Thou art worthy to have 
c the honor and the glory for evermore ; for to thee 
c it doth belong *, thou art God of heaven, and of 
1 the whole earth :' and continued about a quarter 
of an hour in prayer, and said to the Lord, ' i am 

* an infant, and cannot do any thing without thee.' 
And one evening, several friends coming to visit 
him, he desired their prayers to the Lord for him :. 
and the next day himself prayed again, saying, ' Our 

* Father which art in heaven,' Sec. afterwards he 
said, • It is a brave thing to be at peace with the 

* Lord. 5 His end drawing near, he said, ' Father, 
*■ let me die.' And again called cut i Father, fat) / 
(his father being present, asked what he desi ? 
he said, 4 I do not speak to thee, but to my heavenly 
' Father] have mercy on me;' and expressed much 
joy that he had with the Lord ; and desired them: 
about him, that he might be still : and so lay 
secretl) praising the Lord. And a few hours before 
he died, he said, ' I come, Father, I come :' and' 
being very weak, his voice was low, but he was 
heard to say, * God is my father :' and so like a 
lamb he quietly finished his days the I2th of the 
Twelfth month, in the year 1700, aged Nine years- 



END OF THE FIRST PART, 



PIETY PROMOTED, 

IN A 

COLLECTION OF DYING SAYINGS 

OF MANY OF THE PEOPLE CALLED 

QUAKERS. 

WJTH 

A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THEIR 
LABOURS IN THE GOSPEL, 

AND SUFFERINGS FOR THE SAME, 

THE SECOND PART. 
A NEW EDITION. 

By JOHN TOMKINS. 



" Gather up the fragments that remain that nothing 
" be Lost," John vi. 12,. 



LONDON : 

PRINTED- AND SO£D BY W1UIAM PHILLIPS^ 
GEORGE 7AED, LOMBARD STREET, 

1812. 



THE PREFACE. 



BY ANOTHER HAND. 



117'ONDERFUL hath been the love of God 
• to the children of men, and various have 

been the methods whereby lie hath given de- 
monstrations of it : all ages and generations abound 
with the testimonies of his bounty to them ; for 
his goodness hath been always so plentifully ex- 
tended, and also in such an indulgent manner, as if 
his happiness was not complete unless mankind 
partook of it: so that he had great reason indeed 
to ask, What £ould have been done more to his 
vineyard, (the house of Israel) that he had not 
done in it ? For he gave them his good Spirit to 
instruct them, he sent his servants the prophets to 
reprove them, and which was the most stupendous 
kindness of all, he also sent his only begotten Son 
to reclaim them, and to be a propitiation for them r 
yet such was the obstinacy of that impenitent 
generation* that few would thereby see (however,, 
do) the things that belonged to their peace, so that 
at last they were hid from their eyes \ a doom 
dismal and just !. May their calamities be our cau- 
tion, that by their harms we may learn to beware. 

For we have also, in this our day, been honoured 
with a visitation from heaven, a high and holy 
calling indeed ; a call to be holy in order to be 
happy : but few have obeyed, though Christ himself 
hath called by his Spirit, and by his servants, by his 
judgments, and by his mercies, that men might b& 



138 PREFACE TO THE READER. 

reduced to the paths of the righteous, which are 
paths of pleasantness, and ways of pe^ice. But 
alas ! instead of being melted to contrition by these 
endearing testimonies of his goodness, such hath 
been the ingratitude of many, they -have done des- 
pight I Spirit of Grace that was given for 

their eternal profit, and have also very evilly entreated 
his servants and messengers, whom he sent to 
proclaim that accepted time, the day of salvation : 
yet these good men were not, by their hardships, 
weary of their well-doing, bur persevered to the end, 
od to them, though they returned hatred 
for low, persecution for kindness, as thou wilt find 
by som. instances in these collections, which the 
industry us author presents thee with ; that the 
might be awakened to holiness by 
the . he dead, since that of the living is 

so little regarded. 

The matter thou wilt soon see is very excellent, 
since it shews thee, that to live holily is the way to 
die happily : In short, it is a continued persuasion 
to virtue, and a compendious directory in the way 
to it, by the great means of examples, which at 
once gives both light and strength in that indispen- 
sible duty of living well •, and it is free of what 
might excite thy displeasure, not intermedling with 
the controversies of the times ; so that charity 
persuades me, that scarce any can read it and not 
be bettered by it : which gives me the boldness to 
recommend these following sheets to the serious- 
perusal of all \ high and low, rich and poor, friends 
and enemies ; that all may be humbled to the im- 
provement of their time (that treasure of eternal 
consequence) and be wise, and consider their latter 
end ; lest, when it is too late, they may desire to 
die the death of these righteous persons, and that 
their latter end may be like theirs, who breathed 
out their pious souls in faith, and full assurance of 



PREFACE TO THE READER. 139 

an immortal crown of glory. For the voice was 
true the holy man declared he heard, and that bid 
him write, " Blessed are the dead which die in the 
" Lord, that they may rest from their labours, and 
" their works do follow them," to their comfort 
and everlasting consolation ; and stay behind them 
too, to the example of the living, who desire to 
live to God, and follow them as they followed 
Christ, in humility, self-denial, brotherly-kindness, 
&c. though thereby they are "a proverb of reproach, 
and their life accounted madness, and their latter 
end without honour; yet they will be numbered 
among the children of God, and their lot will be 
among the saints. 

I will detain thee no longer from what is better, 
only recommend thee to the holy Spirit of Truth, 
that is able and willing to guide thee into the same 
blessed Truth it led these happy souls into, and 
then thy latter end will be like to theirs, comfortable 
and glorious : which is earnestly desired for thee 
by the author of these treatises j for I know his 
sole design is thy profit and advantage ; he desires 
none for himself, but the comfort of well-doing $ 
being actuated by a better principle than to make gain 
of Godliness, too much the practice of men of great 
pretences. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 



THE SECOND PART. 



^l^ILLIAM DEWSBURY was one whom God 
* ' raised up in the morning of his glorious day, 
broken forth in our age. 

After that eminent servant of Christ, George Fox, 
was set at liberty (having been almost twelve months 
in Derby jail, whereof near six moths he was in the 
dungeon, for his testimony to the truth, in the year 
1 651) he, passing from thence through several coun- 
ties, came to Balby, in Yorkshire, where he was 
instrumental to convince several friends of note, 
who were afterwards serviceable in their days, viz. 
Richard Farnsworth, Thomas Aldam, Thomas Good- 
year, Thomas and John Kilham, James Naylor, &c. 
And George Fox having a meeting at lieutenant 
Roper's house, William Dewsbury and his wife 
came to it, and heard truth declared : and the same 
evening, they having some conference with George 
Fox, confessed to the truth and received it ; and 
after some time William Dewsbury publickly 
preached the same truth. 

In the year 1653 he went inro Westmoreland, 
Cumberland and Lancashire, and declared truth 
both in steeple-houses and in meetings ; and under- 
went great sufferings, beatings, &c. and was impri- 
soned at York, and also at Northampton in the year 
io > 54. Indeed, God made him an eminent instru- 



1 42 PIETY PROMOTED. 

ment in his hand, for the publication of his mighty 
day of power, preaching repentance in order to the 
remission of sins -, and he bore a faithful and univer- 
sal testimony of the free grace of God to mankind : 
and the Lord was with him, and prospered him in 
his manifold sufferings, travels, labours, and exercises, 
in the gospel of Christ, and word of the ministry, as 
may be seen in his several books, testimonies and 
epistles, collected together in print. And many 
Mere made sensible of the benefit of his labours, 
counsel, admonition, and encouragement, to the 
good and we! hue of their immortal souls : for the 
Lord, in whose dread and zeal he laboured, endowed 
him with faith and courage, and great boldness for 
his name and truth ; and he published the same in 
great plainness, and in the simplicity thereof. To 
the tender-hearted he was exceeding mild, but to 
the stubborn and lofty he was sharp and plain ; ad- 
monishing them, and declaring the righteous judg- 
ment of God against th.it state ; watching with much 
patience and long-suffering the recovery of Mich, 
who through the subtilty of the enemy had fallen 
from the truth, and from the unity with the people 
of God : but when any made it their work to cause 
division and discord, and to sow dissenison among 
brethren, he would plainly testify against them, and 
reject them, as he did in his last visit to London. 

A little time before his departure he had a con- 
cern upon him for the honour of God, and that 
those who had believed, and made profession of the 
truth, might answer it in an holy and oiameless 
conversation ; which he would often say, could not 
be done by largeness of knowledge, and strength of 
comprehension, bu: by a real dying to their wills 
and affections, by virtue of the daily cross. 

The envy of wicked and unre; men was 

very great and fierce again;: 1 iin iHy in those 

early days- of his travels and , ad for .the 



PIETY PROMOTED. 



H3 



sake of his testimony, he was often beaten, stoned, 
and imprisoned. He neither feared their malicious 
threats nor blows, but boldly went forth, publishing 
the truth, testifying to that of God in all consciences ; 
and the hand of divine Providence often delivered 
him out of the hands of his enemies, for his name's 
sake. 

A few weeks before his decease' he came up to 
the city of London, and visited most of the publick 
meetings there, and hore a faithful testimony to 
truth, and for love and unity ; preaching up the 
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world 
fi is crucified unto us, and we unto the world." 
Gal. vi. 14. 

It being the third month, 1688, when he was in 
London, and he intending to have tarried there with 
friends till the Yearly-meeting, which was approach- 
ing, was taken ill about the 29th of the same month, 
so that he could no longer be in the city : he then 
determined to return home, but before he went, 
he left a letter for the Yearly-meeting, which is as 
followeth : 

* Dear Friends and Brethren, 

' I did not know till this last night but that I 
r should have been with you at the Yearly-meeting, 
' but it pleased the Lord to visit me with my ancient 
€ distemper, which hath accompanied me in prison ; 

* and since I was released, the distemper was so 
f sharp upon me, as to my sense, this last night I 

* did not know whether I should have lived to have 

* seen another day : but crying to the Lord, he 

* ordered and cleared my way to go into the country, 

* so that I cannot be with you at this Yearly-meet- 

* ing ; but desire the Lord to assist you with his 

* blessed power and heavenly life, to bring in the 
- scattered ones to their everlasting comfort, and his 
f glory for ever, Amen, 



i 4 4- PIETY PROMOTED. 

c And that it may be so with you, is the prayer 

* of your loving brother, 

( William Dewsbury.' 
London, the 30$ of the 3d Month, 
1688, 

He lived but seventeen days after he left London, 
and making short journies, got home to Warwick, 
and continued weak in body : and a few days before 
his departure, some friends being together with him 
in his chamber, he rising up in his bed in great 
weakness of body, said to them as followeth : 

4 My God hath yet put in my heart to bear a 

* testimony to his name and blessed truth, and I can 
' never forget the day of his great power and bles- 
' ! sd appearance, when he first sent me to preach 

* his everlasting gospel, and proclaim the day of the 
c Lord to all people : and also he confirmed the same 
' by signs and wonders. Therefore, friends, be 

* faithful, and trust in the Lord your God ; for this I 
1 can say, I never played the coward, but as joyfully 
' entered prisons as palaces, bidding my enemies to 

* keep me there as long as they could ; and in the 
1 prison - house I sung praises to my God, and 
1 esteemed the bolts and locks put upon me, as 

* jewels •, and in the name of the eternal God I always 
1 got the victory : for they could not keep me any 
c longer than the determined time of my God. 

' And friends, this I must once again testify to 

* you in the name of the Lord God, that what I saw 

* above thirty years ago, still rests as a testimony to 

* leave behind me, that a dreadful terrible day is at 
e hand, and will certainly come to pass : but the 
' time when, I cannot say ; but all put on strength 
' in the name of the Lord, and wait to feel his 

* eternal power to preserve you through the tri- 

* bulations of these days that approach very near. 

* In the sense of which I have often been distressed 
€ and bowed in my spirit, with cries and tears to my 

* God for the preservation of his heritage. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 145 

* And this I have further to signify, that my de- 
c parture draws nigh ; blessed be my God, I am 

* prepared, I have nothing to do but die, and put ofF 

* this corruptible and mortal tabernacle, this flesh 

* that hath so many infirmities j but the life that 

* dwells in it, ascends out of the reach of death, hell 

* and the grave ; and immortality, eternal life a is my 

* crown for ever and ever. 

c Therefore, you that are left behind, fear not, nor 
c be discouraged, but go on in the name and power of 

* the Lord, and bear a faithful and living testimony 
' for him in your day : and the Lord will prosper his 

* work in your hand, and cause his truth to flourish 
c and spread abroad y for it shall have the victory, 
' and no weapon formed against it shall prosper. 

* The Lord hath determined it shall possess the gates 

* of his enemies, and the glory and the light thereof 
' shall shine more and more unto the perfect day/ 

So he concluded in prayers to the Lord, with 
fervent breathings and supplications for all his people 
every where, but more especially for his dearly be- 
loved friends assembled together at the Yearly- 
meeting at London 5 where he had intended to have 
been, if the Lord had given him health : his dear 
love was to all friends who enquired after him. 

* He departed this life at his house in Warwick in 
a good old age, on the 17th of the Fourth month, in 
the year 1688. 



pOBERT WARDEL, of Sunderland in the 
**- ■ county of Durham, received truth about the 
year 1661, and bore a public testimony to the same, 
not only in England, but also in Scotland, Ireland, 
Holland, and some parts of Germany; and in the 
latter part of his days, viz. in the year 1694, he 
went with our dear friend Robert Barrow to visit 
the churches of Christ in America ; and they tra* 
Vol. I. G 



i 4 6 PI7/TY PROMOTED. 

veiled through nine provinces, or distinct govern- 
ments, in those parts, among whom they had three 
hundred twenty-eight meetings with the people for 
the worship of Almighty God, to their comfort and 
mutual refreshment in the Lord. And God enabled 
them to perform their service to the' desire of their 
hearts, in their old age, and by his power supported 
them under all exercises which they met withal. 

They left the continent to visit the islands, and 
after they had been at Antigua and Bermudas, where 
they had considerable service among friends and 
Others in those islands, they arrived at Jamaica on 
the loth of the Second month, 1696, intending, if 
the Lord permitted, to have gone to Pennsylvania, 
&c. .. Ifter their arrival at Jamaica they had 

1 meetings, but about the 18th of the said 
month Robert W"arde! was taken ill, for the climate 
was exceeding hot, which made great alteration 
upon them both, especially on Robert Wardel, who 
rery much indisposed. And a friend asking 
him how he found himself, he answered, * I have 
* been sick many times, but I never felt myself as I 
' am now ; therefore I know not how it may be with 
, die will of the Lord be done: I am given up, 
1 and am content with God's will.' Another time 
lid to the woman friend at whose house he was, 
' The Lord reward thee for thy tender care ; it 
i makes me think of my dear wife : I know not whe- 
1 ther I may ever see her more, but however, the 
1 will of God be dune. I am, and was willing to be 
1 contented with the will of God, whether life or 
c dentil, before I came hither; and I bless God I am 
4 not afraid to die.' And so he continued to the 
end in a resigned frame of mind, submitting to the 
will of God. And upon his dying-bed he gave 
divers good exhortations to friends who came to 
visit him, concerning the education of their children, 
their care m discipline in the church, and that things 



PIETY PROMOTED. 147 

might be kept in good order ; and that friends might 
answer God's love to them. And after a few days 
sickness, he peaceably finished his course on the 
22d of the Second month, in the year 1696, at the 
house of John Dobbin in Elizabeth Parish in Jamaica. 



"PLIZ ABETH HARM AN, wife of John Harman, 
m *- J haberdasher in London, and daughter of John 
Staploe, grocer of the same city, was visited with a 
lingering distemper, which continued upon her for 
about four months ; in which time, God was gra- 
ciously pleased to give her many opportunities of 
great comfort, inclining several friends to visit her, 
and to pray to the Lord on her behalf. She much 
desired retirement, to feel her mind stayed upon the- 
Lord, that she might feel his living power to prepare 
her, that w T hether life or death, she might be freely 
resigned and given up to the will of God. But she 
said, ' Oh, how hard it is to come there ! it is hard 

* work to die without having a full assurance of the 

* love of God.' 

She had great travail and exercise of spirit, with 
strong cries to the Lord, and wrestlings against the 
enemy, who endeavoured to hurry her mind, and 
bring her into doubts and fears, so that she would 
often say, ' How busy is the enemy in a time of 
c weakness, and how hard it is to have a mind stayed 

* upon the Lord !' 

After some time it was. thought convenient, for 
the benefit of the air, to remove her into the country 
to Mill-hill in the county of Middlesex ; which being 
done, she was satisfied therewith, saying, she hoped 
she should have more opportunity of retirement to 
seek the Lord, and find him near her. 

One day her father being near her, she said, ' Oh, 
c it is a good condition truly to wait . and feel the 
G 2 



1 48 PIETY PROMOTED. 

1 mind stayed upon the Lord.' And her father 
related something of his own experience, having 
been greatly distressed for want of the presence of 
the Lord, and help in the time of need. She ac- 
knowledged her father's experience, and spoke with 
great respect of him, and low thoughts of herself. 
At another time she said, * Oh the enemy takes 
4 advantage of my outward weakness:' but faith 
arising, she said, * I trust the Lord will drive him 

* quite away/ 

A few dayi before she died, her father and another 
friend coming late one night to visit her, found her 
under great inward travail for the enjoyment of the 
love of God to her soul, that being all she desired. 
And the next day waiting upon the Lord in her 
chamber, the friend signified the sense he hnd of the 
mercy and love of God towards her ; desiring that 
the might wait to feel more of it, and trust therein, 
watching against the enemy ; and he believed God 
would graciously answer her desire and breathing; 
and she acknowledged his regard to her. And the 
friend added, ■ I believe this day shall not pass over 
i before the Lord giveth thee thy longed for desire;* 
[which was God's presence] and she believing, an- 
swered, ' I believe the Lord will hear thy prayers 

* for me.' And about the third hour in the after- 
noon, whilst her husband and friends sat by her 
waking upon the Lord, the same friend prayed, and 
God did in a large manner manifest his love amongst 
them, and by his living power drove away the clouds 
and darkness, to the refreshing of the mourner, and the 
comfort of her that could not be comforted without 
the feeling of his power and goodness : and she said, 
' Oh now is the good time come ! now I feel the 
' love of God towards me in my soul ! he hath. 
i opened my heart and brought me into liberty ; how 
' good a God have I ! O the merciful God that I 
f have to do with, that hath remembered me ! He- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 149 

* thit said to the thief upon the cross, u To-day 
" shalt thou be with me in paradise/' he hath looked 

* upon me. Now I am satisfied ; now I am freely 

* resigned, and given up unto the will of God, for 
c now hath the Lord given me the assurance of his 

* love for ever/ And it was observable, how 
careful she was all along of speaking any thing 
beyond what she enjoyed. 

As her near friends and relations sympathized 
with her in the deep exercise and travail of soul she 
underwent, before she received the full assurance of 
eternal happiness ; which when she had attained to, 
it was occasion of comfort and gladness ■ of heart to 
them. 

Soon after, some came to, visit her, to whom she 
signified something of the Lord's dealings with her, 
remembering them of their latter end, and the ne- 
cessity of a preparation for that time ; and withal, 
how hard it was to die. One of them being under 
some convincement of truth, she declared the need 
there was to mind and have regard to the convictions 
of the spirit of truth, and discovery of light j cer- 
tifying the principle of truth to be most excellent ; 
and so many as were led by it, are fit to die ; but if 
any professing the same did act contrary* the fault 
was their own. Desiring, that not any thing of 
that kind might be a stumbling-block to them : with 
more that she said, speaking of the great assurance 
,of the love of God which she enjoyed, and now was 
filling to die, having nothing else to do but to die. 
Which so greatly affected the persons she spoke to* 
that they wept much, and said they should never 
forget what she had spoken. — At night, her husband 
and father, ; and others, being present, she said, 
c Come now rejoice with me j the good time is now 
1 come, because the Lord is good, the Lord is good* 
f and hath given me the .assurance of eternal life !. 

* so that you may now rejoice with me,, and I hog^ 

G3 



150 PIETY PROMOTED. 

* you will have a joyful parting ; the Lord give you 

* a good meeting from whence I am to be buried, 
c and bless the opportunity to them that may be 
' there. O that all might be diligent who have 

* been careless, and let their minds out after vain 

* things; ' desiring that all might love plainness. 

The next day she signified to those about her the 
continuance of the favour and love of God that she 
was enlarged to speak of, and praise him for the 
same, who supported her under great weakness ; 
•and that she saw clearly through the secret and 
subtil workings of the enemy of her soul, who would 
have discouraged her, ' but,' said she, ' I know the 

* power that hath driven him back, and lie must 
*" enter no more : now is my soul redeemed to God, 

* and he that hath redeemed me is near me. The 
' sufferings and death of Christ, and of his agonies*, 
■ the shedding oi his blood, and what he hath done 
4 for me, I feel now that I have the benefit of all 9 

* blessed be my Redeemer who is near me.' 

On the sixth day of the week came divers of her 
relations and friends from London to see her, and 
were much comforted, because of the good condition 
that they found her in •, and the time was good, 
because the good God of life opened the living 
springs in their hearts ; that which stopped the well 
being taken away. So that those who loved her 
most were reconciled to part with her. Then to 
one of those present, whom she loved much, she 
said, ( Oh, why hast thou stayed so long ? If thou 
' hadst been here before, I believe I had been, gone; 

* but Oh, when I wrestled with the Lord for my 
' own soul, thou wast still before me, and it was 

* often in my mind to send for thee : indeed I may 

* say, the 'Lord constrained me, and it was to tell 

* thee this, that thy state is as mine was, not as mine 
' is •, no, no, thou hast hard work to do first : oh 

* the anxiety, the sorrow, the agony and perplexity of 



PIETY PROMOTED. 151 

f soul, the Lord hath been pleased to lay upon me, 
' yet blameless as to my life and conversation : none 

* can accuse me of any evil, neither do I believe they 

* can thee ; neither can I. Therefore take it not 
' amiss, for in pure love to thy never-dying soul do 

* I persuade thee and exhort thee; for I cannot but 

* say, 1 have seen clearly into thy state, because I 

* love thee. I am concerned for thee, I know it is 
'* as I was : I have sometimes gone to a meeting, and 
c not keeping on my watch, my mind was cumbered 

* with many things, and I have gone away never the 
' better : answer me ; hath it not been so with thee ?-' 
And no reply being made, she spoke earnestly, and 
asked again, _' Prithee tell me, tell me; r then an 
answer being given, she said, ' watch and pray, dear 
' friend, for thou wilt find it hard to die, live as well 

* as thou canst : and thou knowest not but it may be 
' thy turn next. Though thou art a. flower,, so was 

* X; yet see how I am faded away : forget not my 

* dying words, forget, them not; they are spoke to- 

* thee in pure love. Therefore, dear and tender 
1 friend, take them so.' Then she said, 'Farewell* 
' farewell ; I am going to eternal glory : but oh how 

* hard was it to obtain an assurance thereof ! but 

* now glory, glory to my God ! I have obtained 
' pardon, and am going to him.- And one word 
c more, dear friend ; keep in all plainness both in 

* house and apparel, for that becomes us best ; that 

* will last longest, that we shall have most peace in;' 
then bid her again ' Farewell, farewell.' 

That night another friend came to visit her, who 
with her husband, father, and divers other friends, had 
a good meeting in her chamber. After which she 
expressed her affections to' her husband and tender 
children, desiring the blessing of God upon them, 
and that her children might be brought up in the. 
fear of the Lord, and in that plainness that truth. 
leads into * -and said affectionately to her father 
G 4 



t$2 PIETY PROMOTED. 

* Thou hfist been a tender father to me, be so t» 
4 mine, a grandfather, double, double.' And further 
said, ' Though I have a dear loving husband and 

* two fine children, and plenty enough of things 

* of this world, so that there is nothing wanting - 9 

* but oh, what is all that ? It is as nothing in com- 

* parison of the overcoming love of God which I 
' feel. Oh, how gracious a God have I. Now I 
4 want to go hence, I long to be dissolved : come 

* Lord, come Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' And 
for the comfort of her friends, said, * My gracious 

* God hath given me the full assurance ; Oh, the 

* light that I see before me, and the glory of that 
1 kingdom I shall soon enter into !' 

The night before her departure, it having been the 
monthly-meeting at Mill-hill, several of her friends 
having come from London to visit her \ after they 
were gone, her father took notice what a company 
of friends had been below -, she replied,/ I pray God 
■* bless you, and grant to you all as happy an end as 

* I am like to make.' Willi many more sensible ex- 
pressions which she uttered. That night she re* 
eeiyed a letter from our friend William Penn v whom 
she mueh esteemed, who had been to visit her in 
the beginning of her sicknes ; part of it is as follows ; 

4 Dear Elizabeth, 
* I am grieved that I am hindred from seeing thee* 

* but the Lord I have sought for thee, and in spirit 

* abundantly sympathized with thee : I beseech him, 
' make all easy to thee in life or in. death •, the Lord 

* God of thy life, and the life of his dear people, be 

* with thee, and do his blessed good pleasure : in 
' the love of which endless life I bid the farewell* 
*- farewell. Thy friend and brother in the Lord, 
« where we shall meet again and live for ever.' 

The which letter, a friend present, at her desire, 
answered* and she zt conclusion expressed thes£ 



PIETY PROMOTED. fjj 

words, * My love in the Lord Jesus, in whom I 
* received his lave, is dearly to him, and my dear 
f Jove to his wife.' 

The next day, being the second day of the week,. 
she said in the morning to them about her, * Dear 
' friends, farewell - y the Lord God of heaven and 
4 earth be with you, bless you and preserve you.' 
And having; taken leave of her husband, and all in 
order, leaving directions not only about her children r 
as to die bringing them up., but also the family she 
left behind,, and concerning, several acts of charity, 
also her burial, and the manner of it *, about the third 
hour in the afternoon she said to a minister present,, 
who often visited her in her sickness,. * A true friend, 
■ 6 the Lord reward thee when I am gone/ And. 
having an easy pa*jage, she soon fell asleep, and is 
now at rest in the Lord. 

She remembered her love In the Lord Jesus Christ 
to friends. She died at Mill-hill on the 12th, and 
was buried in London the 15th of the Second 
month, in the year 1698, aged Twenty-eight yearsv 



ANNE MERCY STAPLOE, daughter of Johrr 
•" Staploe of Aldersgate-street in London, a young 
maid between fourteen and fifteen years of age, wa& 
a dutiful child to her parents^ a pattern of content 
m the family, and was- seldom out of temper, what- 
ever happened. 

She had been at school the 18th of the First 
month, 1700,. and was taken sick the same day of a 
violent fever, yet was preserved in her senses to the 
last. At the time of her first being ill, a neighbour: 
being with her, she said she thought herself to be 
taken much after the manner that the servant-maid' 
was, that died out of the family two or three months 
before ;. and she was heard to say as she "lay in & 
G-5 



154 PIETY PROMOTED. 

quiet and still frame, c Thy will, thy will be done/ 
And another time, her mother asking her, how she 
did, she chearfully answered, that she thought she 
should not recover ; but desired to be contented 
with the will of the Lord. And when her friends 
came to see her, she affectionately acknowledged 
their visit, and said, ' A broken heart and contrite, 
1 was accepted of the Lord ; ' with many more 
words, but her voice being low, could not well un- 
derstand them. A friend taking leave of her, desired 
the Lord to comfort her, and she answered, *hehath;' 
and said, ■ I have been in the sweetest frame that 
( ever I was in in my life, praises, praises be to the 

* Lord, for thou art worthy of it !' and declared her 
willingness to die, and that she was happy in the 
Lord •, and being asked to take something to moisten 
her mouth, she said, 'None; for in a few minutes 
I shall be at ease :' and looking on her friends about 
her, she turned her face to the pillow and said, 

* Anne Mercy bids all farewell.' And a neighbour 
asking her if she was willing to die,, she said * Yea, 

* and go to God ;' and departed in about two minutes 
after, having been sick four days. 

She died on the 22d of the First month, in the 
year 1700, and was buried from the Bull and Mouth 
meeting-house the 25th of the same month, aged: 
between Fourteen and Fifteen years. 



Concerning a Youth about Nineteen Years of Age; 

]\ /[ORGAN CADWOLADER, son of Morgan 
■*-*-*- Cadwolader, of Merion Township, in Penn- 
sylvania, being under weakness of body, he said, 
when he was in health he was not so careful as he 
should have been; so that when he heard friends 
speak concerning the preciousness of the work of tha 
Lord, and concerning being serious, and how needr- 



PIETY PROMOTED. *$& 

ful it was to use but few words in our conversation,, 
he was not careful enough concerning these things : 
and when it happened that he was among some who-' 
were light* and vain, it was pleasing to him. „ 

But when the Lord was pleased to visit him with 
sickness, and bring Kim (in his apprehension) very 
near death, then he began to consider his condition, 
and saw himself wanting : then the fear of the Lord 
came upon him, and he took delight in his service $ 
and the company of them' who were most serious, 
and careful to keep close to the Lord, was most ac- 
ceptable to him. And he desired that they would 
pray for him •, and the Lord put it into his heart to 
go alone to wait upon him, and pray unto him. 
And it was his chief concern to be serious and grave, 
and to refrain from that company which he formerly 
delighted in. And such a fear was upon his heart, 
that he would desire his friends and relations, if they 
heard him at any time say amiss, to tell him of it. 
And when he was in his last sickness, a friend visiting 
of him, enquired how he did, he replied, ' I am not 
' afraid of death, nor punishment after it *, for I know' 

* and am satisfied that the Lord will. have mercy on 
' me: and yet I wait to come one step nearer "to 
c him.' And to another friend he said, taking his 
leave of him, 'When thy heart is tendered, remem-- 

* her me ; for it is good for one that is weak to have^ 
'"help/ And often said, * The time of my going to 
''my long home draws nigh;' and said, i How good 
' is the Lord, and how great is his love !' 

One time he' asked his mother how much he' 
wanted of twenty years, she replied, ' Three quarters 
' of a year/ ' Then/ said he,, i if I go to my grave 
'in my youthful days, I 'shall escape a great deal of 

* trouble that is in the world. 5 And farther said,- 
*"I have -very often used to go alone into the woods, 

* and fall on my knees to pray to the Lord, and 
*' make covenants with him, and that with many 

G6 



i$6 METY promoted. 

* tears : though I have sometimes been too short in 

* performing my covenants which I made in my 

* distress ; yet the Lord has been merciful to me, 
1 and I am willing to die. This poor carcase, which 
' is much decayed already, will go to the grave ; but 

* the purer part, or spirit that is in it, will go to the 

* Lord that gave it.* 

He said to his brother, ' I know thou art tender, 

* and often broken into tears : if thou wilt be careful, 

* the Lord will be good to thee. And I desire thee r 
' after meeting on First-days, and on other days, 
' when thou hast time, to read the scriptures, and 
1 friends' books, and spend less time in reading his- 
1 tory •, though I do not say there is harm in so 

doing, if it do not too much employ thy mind : for 
' these things will be of little worth at last ; I hope 

* thou wilt think on my words, when my body is in' 
' the dust.' And he prayed on this wise, * O Lord, 

1 who doth hear and see in all places, let it be good 

* in thy sight to look upon me a poor mortal ; com- 

* fort and strengthen thou me, against the time that 
1 thou mayest see it convenient to take me out o£ 
1 this world : and if there be any under great trouble, 

* Lord, do thou help them/ 

The morning before he departed, a friend asked 
him how he did, his answer was, f I am very well j 

* I can wait bravely to-day, better than at any time 
' before j' and desired his" father to wait with him 
that day ; and also intreated both his father and 
mother to pray to the Lord for him : and gave good 
advice to his sisters, to shun vain company j adding, 

* Through the goodness and mercy of the Lord I 
' am going to a good place/ And said, i Do not 
' despise your father and mother.' Farther speaking 
to them all, he said, c When I am departed, be you 

* silent, and have a care you make no noise ; but for 

* weeping, you cannot help that. 5 And then he said, 
« Turn me on my right side, and I will trust in the 



PIETY PROMOTED. i 57 

' Lord.' These were his last words that he spoke* 
and so slept about half an hour, and departed this 
life without struggling, as if he had fallen into his 
natural sleep. 

He died the 16th day of the Twelfth month, in 
the year 1698, aged Nineteen years and three months* 



jD ICH ARD S AMBLE was born at a place called 
*" Penn Hail, in the parish of Enoder, in the 
county of Cornwall, and baptized according to the 
manner of the church of England the 24th of the 
Fifth month, 1644, anc ^ n * s education was accord- 
ing ; in which he continued until it pleased God to 
call him by his grace, and to reveal his Son in him, 
which was about the year 1666, at which time the 
Lord sent some of his messengers, called Quakers, 
into those parts, to make known the way of salvation, 
and to turn people from darkness to light •, whose tes- 
timony he received and closed with, and, likeEphraim, 
lamented his mis-spent time, under a form without 
power 5 and then joined himself to the Lord and his 
people, as in a perpetual covenant that can never be 
broken. He was brought into deep humility, and 
sate down in silence in the assemblies of God's peo- 
ple for several years, in tenderness, fear, and trem- 
bling, waiting upon the Lord for that wisdom which 
Was from above. And sometimes when his heart 
was rilled with the power of the Lord, he would in 
much tenderness speak a sentence or two in a meet- 
ing- of God's people, which was received and accepted. 
And though his presence was contemptible to the great 
men, rabbles^ orators and disputers of this world, yet 
his testimony was made powerful to many. 

He was improved in his gift for the work of the 
ministry, through great diligence j and in his last 
six years he travelled frequently from county to 



r 5 3 PIETY PROMOTED. 

county, visiting the meetings of friends in many 
parts of England and Wales. And at his return 
from his journies he fell diligently to his trade, 
which was a taylor, for the help of his family. 

He gave up his weak body to spend and be spent 
in God service, and was as careful of his time, as 
if he had seen the shadows of the evening stretched 
out. 

He adorned his testimony by a circumspect life, 
and he was very temperate; and all things were so 
sanctified to him in the fear of the Lord, that he was 
a sweet savour in his day. His wife did not rc- 
rv ember that ever she heard him speak one unsavory 
word, during the twelve years she was his wife; 
and contented in every condition • exhorting her and 
his children to live in Ciod's fear. And in the church 
he was a nursing father; never sparing his labour,, 
though many times through much difficulty j to visit 
the people of God, both in season and < iit.of season;, 
rebuking some, exhorting others, and comforting and 
confirming many in that- heavenly power that accom- 
panied him; being willing to serve the Lord with all: 
his heart, mind, understanding, and strength. 

About the First monthj io^'o, being then on his 
travels (and having been wen', some months before) 
he was take, sick at Pool, in Dorsetshire; from 
whence (exp .cting to see diem no -more) he wrote- 
an epistle to friends in Cornwall, the county where 
he was born, and where he received truth, and also, 
where his family dwelt; which is as followeth : . ■ 

i To Friends in Cornwall.. 

c Dear friends, 
1 I send this salutation, as though it were my last 
s unto you, wherein I take my leave of you in the 
1 L:rd Jesus Christ,- desiring you all may obey the 
' truth, and live and die in it. And the many sweet 
'•and heavenly opportunities which my soul bath 



PIETY PROMOTED. 159 

* had with you, are fresh in my remembrance. -And 

* now dear hearts, my body grows very weak, but 
' my soul is strong in the Lord, who hath greatly 
' renewed the lasting-seal of his love unto my soul 

* this morning. Oh ! how could I sleep when my 

* heart was so awakened unto* the blessed sense of 

* my acquaintance with the Lord, which sounded 

* through my soul, that my name should not be 
'■ blotted out of the book of life, and of the holy city, 
'the heavenly Jerusalem, whose foundation is full 

* of precious stones, and the river of the water of 

* life flows ; where the gates are not shut all day, 
'neither is any night there: which, when my soul 

* heard, my heart was dissolved and broken within 
' me, and my head was as it v/ere turned into water, 
' and mine eyes gushed out with tears, in the con?. 
' sideration of the endless love of God to such a poor 
^creature as I. 

' Now, dear friends, who- are truly near me in the 

'Lord, you know the time of our first knowledge 

•' and acquaintance, which was a. time of love, and 

* to this day my heart is filled with the same towards 
'you, though I am like, as to the outward, to see 

* your faces no more. 

4 O friends ! Be not ensnared nor entangled with 
' things of this world, nor let your minds go out of 
■ * truth, and so lose the everlasting stay and support 
' of your souls in the last day ; but rather let go all, • 
c and hold fast the truth, and keep your hearts from 
' being over-run with the world's spirit ; and so will 
' the spirit of truth spring up in you as a well to 
f refresh your souls. 

' And all you-, whose hearts are truly tendered to 
c the Lord, whose trials and exercises are not a few, 
*be not dauntednor. discouraged, although the enemy 
''may seek to frighten you with many temptations, 
' and wnuld seek to lead you out of the fellowship 

* with your dying day 5 which exercise my soul has 



*6o PIETY PROMOTED. 

* sometimes passed under. But blessed be the Lord 

* for ever, the enemy 13 found a liar y for the Lord 
1 has been pleased to make this sick-bed to me better 

* than a king's palace ; and I have great fellowship 
4 with my last day, and do rejoice in the Lord, who- 
4 doth so sweetly visit me with the glorious light of 
4 his countenance : it is with me, as it is with one 
1 who has travelled many weary journeys, and at last 
4 is come to the sight of his desired end, which when 

* he sees, greatly rejoices in a sense of a further 
c satisfaction which he shall after enjoy; even ?o it 
i {< will) me, who have passed no opportunity where 

* I saw the way of life clear and open before me, 

* but have been ready night and day to do the will, 

* and answer the re< of the Lord, and so 

* running] as me in a race, knowing my time that 

* it is but short : and blessed be the Lord, I have 
1 great peac< and satisfaction in this my weak and 

* low condition ; and satisfied, seeing my loc was 

* n< : at this time among you, that it is here in this. 

* place-, and J hope it will be well, whether I live 
' or dfe. 

* And so my dear zr.d well-beloved friends,, dwell 
4 in love one with another, walking in the unspotted 

* life, ro shall you grow up as pleasant plants in the 

* garden of the Lord, and the dew of life will more 
4 and more descend upon you, and this you will feel 
4 from day to day *, and when you shall come to your 
4 latter end, your reward will be sure with the Lord, 

* I have much in my heart towards you, but my- 
4 strength fails me j, only this I desire of you, seeing 
4 I am like to leave my wife and tender babes with 
4 you (whom I know not whether I shall see more) 
4 great is my love and tender respect to them, for we 
4 have lived from the beginning as two joined to- 
4 gether by the Lord, who gives victory over the 
4 world y believing, that when I am gone^ the care- 

* of my God will be over them 5 and I have been, a- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 161 

* tender father to them, and they have been to me 
4 very tender children, and my wife hath been to me 

* as bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh, yet I 
' must leave both her and them unto the Lord. 

' And this I would leave with you, my dear 
■ brethren and sisters, who have known me from 
' the beginning, that you esteem of her, when I am 
1 gone, as one who was wife to him that was made 

* willing in this day t© spend and be spent for God's 
4 truth, and 1 tr. churches sake *, and I desire you in, 
' the Lord Jesus Christ, that my dear wife may meet 

* with no discouragements from you ; she is a- ten- 
' der woman ', and then you will be encouragers of 
f her. I know, when this comes to your hands 
4 there will be no want of sorrow.; but I trust in 

* my God, that both my dear wife and you will be 
c so endowed with the power and presence of the 

* Lord, that if you should hear of my going hence, 

* that you will conclude, as becomes true Christians, 
c that you must come to me, and that I cannot come 

* to you. 

4 And so my dear friends, in the opening free love 

* of God, which this morning my soul is visited 

* withal, I dearly salute you, desiring the Lord may 

* be an husband to my dear wife, and a father to my 
4 children, and you friends to both. 

* And whereas I have never been wanting in my 
4 labour and service for the glory of the Lord ,and 

* your good, when with you \ and if the Lord yet 
4 lengthen my days, I -trust I shall be as ready ami 
4 as willing as ever I have been •, so conclude in a 
4 sweet and living sense of that love which will never 
4 die, my wife's dear husband, my children's tender 
e father, and your own dear friend and brother, in 
4 the immortal seed of life, where we are nearly and 
4 dearly related one to another. 

* RlCHARD SaMBWE,* 
Poel, the 1st cf the First month, 1680. 



Hfc PIETY PROMOTED. 

Thus our dear friend had a true sense of his 
death ; and this letter manifests that he was a true 
Christian, a good husband, a tender father, and i 
faithful friend and brother ; and it was his dying and 
last words to them, as he said, for he did not live to 
see his family and friends in that county to v. . 
he did write, though he continued some weeks . 
this. 

Recovering a little strength, he was desirous to 
be at home with his wife and small children, and 
relations in Cornwall ; and in order to it, he travelled 
in much weaknes an , and after a few days 

rest he readied to Champet, near IMourton, in 
: there he fell into a relapse, and his 
wife came to him. before his departure, 

g leave of his wife, lie said, * Oh! my dear 
ither to me, and let me take thee in 
more*. The Lord will be to thee an 
' husfc . father to our little children, as thou 

* abides! faithful to the Lord.' Then, after a few 
words more to her, he prayed a considerable time ; 
yea, as long as life lasted, lie was praising and mag- 
nifying the Lord. And to a friend who visited him 
a little before his death, as he lay weak on his bed, 
he declared how well it was with him ; that he did 
give up to the Lord's requirings, to spend and be 
spe.u ke ; and said he knew his 

time would be but short, and labours, travels and 
exeic ii end, and be no more; 

wit! many nore r expressions in much ten- 

d i :■ ir innisg down his cheeks; which 

com! to the friends present, 
mished his testimony, and slept with his 
: .e 15th o: the i bird month, in the year 

1 I is entered into rest from his labours, anA 

his wor&s follow him. Aged Thirty-six year*. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 163 

TAMES MARTYN, born at East Acton, in the 
** county of Middlesex, in the year 1646, was 
convinced of truth in the year 1672. He was a man 
whose conversation adorned the doctrine of Christ 
Jesus, which he preached, and faithfully and zea- 
lously laboured to spread the truth abroad; on which 
account he travelled in x\merica as well as in England. 
The first time he went to America was in the year 
1682, and he returned into England in the beginning 
of 1684*, and went over into America a second time 
in 1685, and returned again in the latter part of 
1687: after which he continued labouring in the 
ministry, according' to the gift of Christ received. 

He was a weakly man in body, and was taken sick 
when he was abroad on a journey in Essex ; and being 
near his end, he said as followeth : * Good is the Lord, 

* great is his work which he hath wrought in the 

* hearts of his people, to whom he hath given power 
' to follow him faithfully in the regeneration^ through 

* great tribulations, and hath made their garments 
1 white in the blood of the Lamb, who hath cleansed 
1 and redeemed them from the vain conversation of 
' the world : so that the image of the earthly is done 

* away, and the image of the heavenly is born : and 
' their conversation and treasure is in heaven, and it 

* is their hearts delight to be there also/ In which 
blessed work, this dear servant of the Lord made a 
good progress, even to the finishing of his course 
with joy ; and he received witness in himself that he 
pleased God, to his great consolation. 

In the time of his sickness he had free access to 
the Lord, who was pleaseci to give him the returns 
of his divine love and life, to the overcoming of his 
heart and soul, and comfort of them who were with 
him. O ! the heart-breaking power that attended 
him night and day, which caused him to sing forth 
praises to the God of his life. And he often said, 
4 Oh ! precious it is to dweLl low with the Lord r 



1 64 PIETY PROMOTED. 

1 not to aspire too high, but to keep in the low 

* valley, where the streams of life flow freely,' — 
Again he said, * O my dear God, how good art thou 

* to me ! thy goodness breaks my heart ! my dear 

* Father, I have loved thee ever since I knew thee ! 
' I have followed thee faithfully ever since I did 
' know thy truth ! thou blessed God ! let all that is 

* within me praise thy name ! thou hast given me a 
' good reward ! death is swallowed up of life : thou 

* l..\-: given me victory over the grave, my soul longs 

* to be with thee, my sweet Father!' with much 
more, even continually praising the Lord, and re- 
joicing in his mercy ; admonishing friends who 
visited him, to live in the life of their profession t 
Baying, c For a profession without life will stand 

* none in stead when they come to die: for it is a 
' dreadful condition to see death approaching, and 
4 the terrors of God lie upon the conscience ior 
' disobedience. O it is a blessed thing, when death 

* approaches, to know peace and consolation with 
' the Lord, and an answer of well done.' He after- 
wards s^icl, ' O what a blessed thing it is to feel 

* life. Friends, life is that which will make your 

* hearts glad.' When his speech was almost gone, 
tho^e about him could many times hear him say, ' 

* My soul praises the Lord, my soul h glad with thy 
4 joy.' And so finished this life in great peace with 
the Lord, on the 30th day of the Eighth month, in 
the year 1691, at the house of John Salmon, of 
Bocking, near Brantry, in Essex, and was buried in 
friends' burial-ground at RatclitF, near London, the 
3d of the Ninth month following. Aged Forty-five 
years. 



T\ f ARY MOLLINEUX, wife of Henry MoHi- 
**-*- neux, of Liverpool, in Lancashire, (her maiden 
name was Southworth) was one who in her child-i 



PIETY PROMOTED. 165 

hood was much afRicted with weak eyes, wnicl* 
made her unfit for the usual employment -of girls; 
but being of a large natural capacity, quick and 
studiously inclined, her father brought her up to 
more learning than is commonly bestowed on her 
sex •, in which she became so good a proficient, that 
she well understood the Latin tongue, and fluently 
discoursed in it, and made a considerable progress 
also in the Greek; she wrote several hands well, 
and was a good arithmetician; as also in the study 
of several useful arts ; and had a good understanding 
in physic and surgery, delighting in the study of 
nature, and to admire the great God of nature in 
the various operations of his power and goodness, &c„ 
She was one who loved the blessed truth (and they 
who walked according to it) from a child, being 
early convinced thereof, and was not satisfied with a 
profession of religion only, but earnest for the life 
of it, both in herself and others : not proud nor con- 
ceited of her parts and learning, but was adorned 
with humility : plain and decent in her clothes,, 
which she valued for service more than sight ; she 
loved to read the Holy Scriptures, and delighted 
much in solitude, setting apart some time in the day 
for retirement. 

She delighted in frequenting the religious meet- 
ings of the people called Quakers, and suffered im- 
prisonment for the same in Lancaster castle, in the 
year 1684. Afterwards she was married to Henry 
Mollineiix, to whom she was a loving wife, an affec- 
tionate mother to her children, and a kind, charitable 
neighbour, especially to such as were in distress, 
sick, or in affliction, though never so poor, giving 
both advice and medicines to them that stood in 
need ; whereby she was made an instrument of good 
to many. She was noble in the enduring hardships 
upon the account of her husband's imprisonment, 
which was several times ; and for him, and his* 



166 PIETY PROMOTED. 

fellow-sufferers she made application to Dr. Stratford, 
bishop of Chester," they being imprisoned upon the 
writ D<? Excommunicato Capiendo <, for not appearing 
at the bishop's court, though they had no citation, 
or lawful notice given them ; and after her discourse 
with the bishop, he was so favourable, that they 
were set at liberty. But afterwards the priest, that 
prosecuted them before, threatened them again, which 
she having understood, spoke these words, and one 
took them down in writing, as followcth : 

Even what the hungry wolf in field would do 
To feeding lambs, so will the wretch to you: 
The cruel priest, fierce, covetous, unjust, 
Tor money, not for souls, doth cark and lust. 

She writ many poems upon religious subjects 
(which were printed for pub lick service) having a 
gift that way. 

Upon the 8th of the Tenth month, 1695, she was 
taken with sickness, under which she continued neatf 
a month •, about nine days after she was taken ill, 
she said, ' I am well content, if the Lord sec meet, 
1 that he take me away-, for my pain is great, andj[ 
' know not what in this world I should stay to enjoy, 
1 except it be my husband, and my little lads (her 
two sons) of whom she then said, ' I would rather 
c have my children enriched with the fear of the 
' Lord, than with all manner of worldly riches/ 
She grew daily weaker, inclining to sleepiness, yet 
would sit up five or six hours at a time towards 
evening, and discourse freely *, and said to her hus- 
band, that she was well satisfied, that if the Lord 
took her away by that distemper, she should be eter- 
nally happy ; with more comfortable expressions, 
that are not set down. And one evening it was 
thought she would have died - y but recovering some- 
what, she spoke in Latin, of being cloathed hereafter ; 



PIETY PROMOTED. 167 

wherebv they understood that she was minding how 
the Lord would cloath her, when her mortal cloath- 
ing was put off. 

Her husband asking her if she had any thing in 
her mind concerning her children, or any other thing 
farther to communicate to him, she soon replied in 
Latin, ' Why speakest thou such things?' (as if all 
temporal things were out of her thoughts) c dost not 

* thou understand me?' he replied, ' Yes, very well, 
' she spoke of spiritual things ;' she answered, ' Yes j 
'but she had nothing concerning outward things 

* farther to say.' 

The next morning, her breath being short, and 
her husband expecting her departure, he expressed 
to friends present somewhat of his concern for her ; 
to whom she said, c Ne nirnis solkituj esto : Be not 

* thou over-much careful or troubled:' when com- 
pany was present she sometimes spoke in Latin, 
when she intended it only to her husband. After- 
wards being asked how she did, her answer was, 

* Drawing nearer and nearer;' with many other 
sweet and good sentences, and so departed without 
any noise, sigh, or groan, on the 3d day- of the 
Eleventh month, in the year 1695, in the evening, 
aged Forty- four years. 

Here followeth a contemplation of Mary Mollineux, 
written when a maid. 

Of the Presence of God. 

How amiable is thy presence, Lord ! 
Oh how desirable thy holy word ! 
Tho' as a fire or hammer it appear, 
To burn or batter down whatever's dear 
To sinful flesh and blood : thy judgments be 
Exceeding sweet and pleasant unto me ; 
For Sion's children are redeem'd thereby. 
And purify'd from their iniquity. 



i65 PIETY PROMOTED. 

Yea, everlasting righteousness brought in, 
Hef converts ransom* d from ensnaring sin. 
And thy salvation is hereby reveal'd 
N'.arer, and thy great mercies are unscal'd 
When judgment is brought forth to victory, 
That thine may walk with thee in purity. 
Ah ! teach us daily patiently to wait 
In holy awe, to know this happy state 
Oonfirm'd and seal'd unto us, that we may 
Reign with the Lamb in the eternal day: 
Then may we to the praise of Sion's king, 
ong of judgment and of mercy ^ing. 



A NDREW TAYLOR received truth in the year 
' ■ 10-2, when it pleased God to visit many about 
;hc borders of England, in Cumberland, in sending 

rvants to declare the word of life amongst 

them ; and through his faithfulness and true zeal for 

lord, he came to be wonderfully changed, and 

suffered several imprisonments for meeting among 

the Lord's people. A man diligent in business, 

.1 and upright among men. Mis way was, to 
be better than he appeared, so that people loved and 
esteemed him : and after several years having ap- 
proved himself just and holiest towards men, God 
bestowed his heavenly riches upon him, and called 
him to the work of the ministry about the year 1679, 
iitting him for the same, so that by him many were 
convinced of the truth and right way of the Lord, 
not only in his own country where he was best 
known, but in other parts ; for he travelled dili- 
gently in many parts of this nation, and also in 
Scotland and Ireland. He was zealous to reprove 
sin, and careful to preach the gospel freety, his own 
endeavours sufficiently supplying his necessities. — 
At Jast his body being much spent through his many 



PIETY PROMOTED. 169 

labours and travels, a universal weakness or con- 
sumption seized him, having little pain or sickness, 
and so grew weaker and weaker : and, being satis- 
fied that his end drew nigh, there continued a travail 
upon his spirit, that the Lord God that had been 
with him, and borne him up in many deep trials and 
exercises* would accept of him into his rest. And 
the friends present were witnesses of "the hope that 
he had in his latter end. And a little before he 
died, he prayed, saying, ' Come, Lord Jesus, come 
* quickly; for now I am ready.' 

Being filled with heavenly joy, he departed this 
life the 3d day of the Third month, in the year 1698, 
in the "Fifty-fifth year of his age, and about nineteen 
years a preacher of the gospel. 



17LIZABETH COPPERTHWAITE, wife of 
r ^- i Hugh Copperthwaite, of Flushing, in Long 
Island in America, was convinced of truth, about 
the year 1652, in- the north part of Old England, 
and continued therein faithful to the end. She was 
a woman serviceable to die church of Christ in seve- 
ral respects, as well by a publick testimony to the 
blessed truth, which she bore in much plainness and 
sincerity, delighting in the prosperity of truth, and 
of the people of God •, and had true judgment when 
to speak, and when to be silent *, and divided be- 
tween the precious and the vile, being tender to the 
broken-hearted, but. as a sword against that which 
was evil, and which tended to division in the church 
of Christ ; very desirous that the young generation 
might grow up in the life of truth, as well as in the 
education thereof. 

She was at times sick several months before she 
died, which she endured with great contentedness, 
often expressing the love of God to her> and said 

Voi. I. H 



1 7 o PIETY PROMOTED. 

that she felt his heavenly presence. In the time 01 

her sickness she hore many faithful testimonies to 

the glory of the worthy name of God, strengthening 

and encouraging friends in Ins work and service, 

and against the spirit of separation ; for the Lord 

had sealed it upon her heart, that that which leads 

out or the heavenly unity, and hrotherly fellowship, 

was a false spirit, and not of the Father : and she 

often said that such could not he heirs with the true 

And exhorted those about her against the 

superfluity of the world ; shewing them the ill 

uience thereof. And those friends who came 

her, she exhorted them to faithfulness, saying 

• is nothing like it. She continued sensible to 

the last, and departed this life on the 15th of the 

Tenth month, in the year 1697. 



\ VILLI AM WILSON, of Longdale-chapcl, in 
the county of Westmoreland, was a man of 
an innocent life, and though he had little of out- 
ward learning, yet God was pleased to teach him 
himself, and called him to bear a testimony to his 
name; and he did it faithfully, not only in many 
parts of this nation, but in Germany, and was 
several times in Scotland. 

He was a man of a lowly and meek spirit, upright 
and just among his neighbours, which caused them 
often to submit their matters in difference to his 
arbitration, in which he was careful to find out the 
truth and ground of things, and would never coun- 
tenance deceit ; and in this service he had success, 
seldom missing his desired end, viz. to make peace. 
Faithful he was in his testimony for the truth, and a 
sufferer for the same in the prison of Kendal, in the 
year 1666, and several other times afterwards, as 
well as by distress on his goods. Besides that, he 



PIETY PROMOTED. 171 

suffered cruel mockings, stockings, stoning, blows 
and wounds, by cruel usage, both from priests and 
people ; particularly at Eshdale in Cumberland, 
where he exhorted the people to mind that of God 
in their consciences, and turn to that holy light and 
law which he had put into their inward parts, that 
by the same they might come to know the will of 
God, and do it. Because of these and such' like 
words, one Parker a priest, in cruel rage did beat 
and wound him, and with one of his. crutches broke 
his head, and caused the blood to run down his 
shoulders *, and the priest being lame, and not able 
as he would to effect his cruel purpose, caused his 
horse to be brought, on which he mounted, and in 
the sight of the people broke his staff in three pieces 
upon William's bare head, which made the people 
cry out against such merciless work ; but before^ the 
said Parker got heme he was struck with sickness, 
that he never came more to the steeple-house; and,, 
during the time of his sickness, he was very loath- 
some, stinking above the ground, and so died* 

A few weeks after, the said W. Wilson went to 
the same place at Eshdale, and for speaking a few 
words to the people, one Fogo, a priest, took him 
by the hair of his nead, pulled him to the ground, 
and drew him out of the steeple-house ; and also in 
rage and cruelty abused his brother Michael Wilson ; 
but a few months after, this same Fogo, riding over 
some sands, accompanied with several people, fell 
into a quick-sand, and was immediately smothered. 

William Wilson left behind him a widow and two 
daughters, to whom he was a true husband and a 
tender father, instructing his children to keep in the 
fear of the Lord, and to walk in the way of truth, 
which he walked in himself. Often saying to them 
it would be the best portion that they could enjoy. 

His sickness was short : being lately come off a 
long journey, wherein his body was much spent and 
H 2 



i;z PIETY PROMOTED. 

weak, lie said, * I have not served the Lord unfruit- 

* fully : I have no trouble upon me : and I am very 

* sensible that all is well with me.' And again he 
said he was content whatsoever way the Lord 
pleaseij : he was as a do\e harmless •, and as a lamb 
innocent. And again, a few hours before lie died, 
at wlaich time he walked several times over the room, 
be said, as he had often before, i My peace far ex- 
k eecds my pain.' And standing upon his feet 
between two friends, he said, ' Oh that every one 
1 would mind the Lord, that they might keep life' 
And then he sat down, and drew breath no more. 

He deceased at his own house at Longdale-chapej- 
iteelj in Westmoreland, the iothofthc Fifth-month, 
in the year 1682. 



"AIARY WATSON, wife of Samuel Watson, 
^ A oi i'u' county of York, was one who, for the 
d truth, denied herself, and was made 
willing to part with those things which she thought 
stood in her way, abhorring all maimer of evil 5 and 
was a lender nursing mother, nourishing, exhorting, 
and building up the young in the most holy faith : 
though weak in body bhe was much given to fasting 
on religious accounts, and giving of alms; spending 
much of her time in private retirement, frequent in 
prayer and praising the Lord, delighting in medita- 
tions, like Mary, of whom our Lord said, she had 
ohosen that good part, which shall not be taken away 
from her. Luke x. 42. And whilst she had strength 
of body to go to public meetings she had a word to 
speak in season, suitable to the states and conditions 
oi many ; and also was instrumental in the Lord's 
hand in the keeping things in good order relating 
to church affairs, 

In the time of her weakness cf body she was 
sometimes under fears of her great passage from 



PIETY PROMOTED. 173 

mortality ; but through travail of soul, in the living 
faith which she received of Christ the author of it, 
she was kept stedfast, and obtained victory, which 
God in his own time manifested to her soul. And 
afterwards she made acknowledgments of the same 
to the refreshment of others. 

Several weeks before her decease she gave an 
account, that the work of redemption was wrought 
and compleated •, and all doubts and fears were re- 
moved ; and now she waited to be dissolved, and to 
be with Christ that redeemed and sanctified her ; so 
that as a wise virgin she was prepared to enter into 
eternal joy ; and she was filled with praises while 
the had any strength remaining in her vitals •, and 
her eye was to that heavenly family, out of all the 
families of the earth, where she gladly desired to be 
rejoicing with her dear children and relations gone 
before (as often her expression was). 

And she had a tender regard to her offspring which 
she left behind, that they might, through the grace 
of God, be gathered to Christ Jesus the heavenly 
Shepherd ; with many heavenly prayers for them, 
and her exhortation to them who were with her j 
and also for those absent (on her dying-bed) was, 
that they might walk humbly before the Lord their 
Creator, and watch against all the evil temptations 
of this world, the flesh, and the vanity and lusts 
thereof ; that no pride, vain-glory, or intemperance, 
they might be captivated with ; but abiding in the 
holy fear of God, all evil would be suppressed and 
slain upon the cross •, and humility, righteousness, 
meekness of spirit, and holiness, should grow up in 
them, and be not only to them as a comely garment, 
but as a never-failing portion. 

At last, all visible helps and outward enjoyments 
failing, she had the Lord for her portion, and kept 
m possession of that heavenly treasure in her soul, 
and fed upon that living bread and wine of the 

H3 



i74 PIETY PROMOTED. 

kingdom, which she is now in the more full enjoy- 
ment of. She spoke often of her being surrounded 
with the glory of the Lamb, and was sensible in her 
expressions to the last few hours ; and said to her 
husband, * Love, pray for me.' So gave up the 
ghost in a sweet still npnner, on the 2d day of the 
Ninth month, in the year 1694. 

Of a young Maid about Nineteen Years of Age. 

("1RACE WATSON, daughter of Samuel Watson, 
of the county of York, was wel inclined from 
her infancy, being subject to her parents, and hating 
a lie ; and in the latter part of her time was much 
given to retiredness and reading. 

In the time of her sickness she had more than 
ordinary concern in a travail of spirit and combating 
With the enemy of her soul, in which exercise she 
kept cl©se to the power of an endless life inwardly •, 
but made no great, appearance until the Lord had 
given her victory over the enemy, and delivered her 
from his secret temptations ; for having passed through 
the ministration of judgment, her enemy, the crooked 
serpent (as she expressed herself) was driven far from 
her dwelling, so that nothing hindered her refresh- 
ments ; and the well springing up, her joy was great, 
and through her experience she sung the song of 
Moses, and the song of the Lamb ; in a spiritual 
triumph, witli humiliation and brokenness of spirit. 
And she spoke seasonably and distinctly concerning 
the wiles of the devil, who, she said, had laid his 
snares 'in trades, dealings, and conversation in the 
world, and also in families, &c. And though, 
according to common prudence, one* would have ad- 
vised her to silence (her weakness of body con- 
sidered) yet she was so full, and had such constraint 
upon her, that words flowed from her a long time 
in great sweetness and heavenly refreshment*, inso~ 



PIETY PROMOTED. 175 

much that those with her were humbled before the 
Lord, in the sense of his presence, which caused 
many tears. 

And as any came, into her chamber, whether her 
friends (called Quakers) or others, she had a suitable 
testimony, as if she had felt no weakness of body ; 
so that much was spoken which was not taken down : 
some of that which was taken, is as followeth 1 

c Oh heavenly Father ! what hast thou done for 

* me this night ? How hast thou removed the crooked 
' serpent ! and not only removed him, but taken him 

* quite away; so that I can say truly, Oh heavenly 
'Father, thy will be done ! Thou hast shone in upon 

* me with thy marvellous light ; thou hast shewed 
§ me the glory of thy house, the most glorious place 
? ; that ever my eyes beheld : neither did I think thou 
' hadst such a place for any, much less for me a 
' poor worm, a pelican, once ready to think, myself 
1 destitute.' 

Again she said, * But now hath the Lord taken- 
' me up; he hath removed the crooked serpent ; so 

* that I can say, I defy him, I defy him.' 

And further said to the Lord, 'If thou requires 

* my life this night of me, I freely give it unto thee : 

* Oh heavenly Father, thy will be done ; and if 
' thou hast farther work for me, keep me in that 

* which I now enjoy, for there will, my greatest care 

* be ;' meaning to be kept therein. 

And she said, ' Thou hast made my cup to run 

* over, over, over. O heavenly Father,, thou hast 

* taken away all my pain : I am as if Tailed nothing, 

* though of myself I could do nothing, scarce move 

* one of my ringers, my tongue being ready to cleave 
4 to the roof of my mouth ; but thou hast been a 
« light to my feet, and a lanthorn to my path : how 

* can I cease praising thee, thou God of power, thou 
L art more unto me than corn, wine and oil. Thy 

* love is sweeter to my taste than die honey, or the, 

H4 



i:6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

* honey-comb. Oh ! it is more to be valued than 
' the costly pearls, and the rich rubies: the gold of 
1 Ophir is not to be compared unto it: O blessed, 

* O praised, O magnified be thou for ever.' 

When she was asked how she did, her reply 
was, ' I am but weak of body, but strong in the 
1 Lord, and in the power of his might.' 

Once she was questioning something, ' but she 
checked herself, '■ Why do I so ? my case is no 
1 doubting one, the Lord hath created a clean heart, 

* and renewed a right spirit within me, so that all 
1 fears and doubts are taken away : for,' she added, 
1 the gates are open, and the angels are ready to re- 

* ceive me into the bosom of my heavenly Father; 
4 where I shall sing praises with his redeemed ones.' 

It was ndt perceived, m all t]\e time of her sick- 
ness, that she desired to live/3 but many times she 
said as above, * If thc-u requires my life this night, 

* it is freely given to thee. Oh ! Lord, do with me 
c what thou pleasest; Oh! heavenly Father, thy will 

* be done. What hast thou done for me a poor 
1 Stripling in comparison of many ? Thou hast made 
' my bed, thou hast taken away my pain, and my 

* sickness is gone.' And so lay all that day, with 
many ether times, in this frame of spirit. 

And she said, ' The Lord had a people in this 
f city, and other parts, that he will take to himself, 
' and crown with glory and honour.' And she ex- 
horted those present to prize their time, and not to 
give themselves too much to the things of this world. 

* How many,' said she, ' have laid up great riches, 
4 eanhly treasure, and in one night have been de- 
4 prived of all ! ' 

Her sister weeping by her, she said, 'Weep not; 

* remember David and be comforted ; the tongue of 

* men and angels cannot declare the wonderful great- 

* riess of God. O heavenly Father, how sensible of 
' thee hast thou made me ? Thou hast strengthened 



PIETY PROMOTED. 177 

* me, otherwise I should not have been able to speak 

* so much of thee. With thee is fulness of joy, and 

* at thy right hand are- rivers- of pleasure for ever- 
' more/ 

And she spoke of the parable of the ten virgins , 
c Oh ! therefore/ said she, * keep upon your watch- 
' tower, that whether he come at midnight, or cock- 
1 crow, or dawning of the day, be ready, for that is 
c the wedding- chamber indeed, and he is the heav- 
' enly bridegroom.' 

Speaking of her parents and relations, who, she 
said, were as near unto her as the flesh to the bone j 
and taking her sister by the hand, she said to her,. 
'Though we be separated outwardly, we shall meet 

* in the kingdom of glory. Oh ! (said she) what 

* cause have I to bless- the Lord on their behalf,- 
'•whom I am sure never countenanced any evil iw 
'any of us, but reproved it. The words of my dear 
'and tender mother I do remember since -I. was but- 
' ten years of age, who said, she had fought the 
r good fight of faith, and the crown of glory." was laid 
'up for her. These words having remained upon. 
' my mind, and taken- deep impression upon me, I 
' can now say, I finish my course with joy, and shalh 
'receive the- crown of glory J 

And die farther said,, that the Lord" was a God at- 
hand in six troubles, and in seven \ ' nay, if thou. 
' bringest me to- the eighth, thou wilt never leave: 
' me v such was her confidence in the Lord. And* 
so she departed this life in London, the 20th of the' 
Sixth month, in the year i<5S3, aged Nineteen years.' 
and Nine months. 



QEORGE HARRISON, of the parish of ' Kil- 

lington in the county of Westmoreland, came 

of a family of note in the world, and underwent 

some hardship from his relations upon the account 

H5 



i-8 PIETY PROMOTED. 

of truth, which he received in the year 1052, and 
soon after travelled in the service of the gospel, in 
many counties of England, through great afflictions, 
sufferings and persecuion, from those who were 
high in profession of religion in that day. 

He was an able minister of Jesus Christ, and 
valiant for the Lord. When he came into a meeting 
of professors, he would challenge of them the order 
of the true church, according to 1 Cor. xiv. 30, 
which is, " If any thing be revealed to another that 
'* sittcth by, let the first hold his peace." 

In the latter part of his time he went southward, 
and came to Edmund's Bury, in Suffolk, and de- 
clared truth through the streets of that town ; after- 
wards he went to an inn there, desiring some re- 
freshment for his money, but they would not enter- 
tain him ; so lie went to Bradfield-manger, and set 
up his horse at an inn, and called for something to 
eat and drink ; but they perceiving by his language 
that he was a Quaker, refused aho to entertain him,, 
and led his horse out of the stable ; for which cruelty- 
he meekly returned to them, in the words of Christ, 
Mat. xxv. 43. viz. " I was a stranger, and ye took 
" me not in :" so that this innocent young man was- 
obliged to ride abroad all night, and it being a very- 
wet season, and he having been tenderly brought up, 
took a great cold : so he went to Haveril, a town 
between Suffolk and Essex, where the people griev- 
ously did beat him for his testimony to the truth - y 
which hardship, with the great cold that he had re- 
ceived by being forced abroad all night without food, 
greatly injured his health, and put him in a fever - y 
after which, with difficulty, he got to Coggeshall, in 
Essex, and was kindly received by Robert Ludgater ; 
and afterwards he removed to the house of Thomas 
Creek, of Little-coggeshall, a mile further. 

During his sickness, he felt the love and peace of 
God to be with him, and said to the friends about 



PIETY PROMOTED. 179 

"him, c Come, friends, rejoice with me :' and so lay- 
praising God to the last hour. 

He died at the house of Thomas Creek aforesaid, 
aged about Twenty-six years, and was buried in the 
orchard of Thomas Sparrow, tanner, at Stisted in 
Essex, ,the latter end of the Fifth month, hi the year 
1656. 



"ETLIZABETH BARKER, wife of John Barker, 
■fr merchant in Tower-street, London, being sick, 
a friend went to visit her j and when she understood 
that he was'below, she caused those present to with- 
draw, and sent for him up, who asking her how she 
did, she wept, and said, ' I am a poor weak woman ; 
' and I have prayed to the Lord, that if I am to die 

* of this sickness, he would let me know it j and I 
c ' do not see it yet, though I am weak enough to 

* expect it.' And she expressed much concern for 
her three children, if she should be taken away. 
The friend answered, it was true that children are 
very near to tender parents, but we ought to be re-- 
signed, and commit them to God who gave them to 
us ; and besides* if she should die, their grandfather 
and grandmother Barker were not only able, but 
willing to take care of^them* 

Upon which she seemed somewhat satisfied : and 
after a space of silence she said, * It is assurance of 
' my peace with God that I do earnestly desire :' and 
further said, e For these two years past God has 
'been at work in my heart, and I endeavoured to 
'answer his will, and have denied myself of some 
'things, but I have had a care not to do- it in imi- - 
' tation of others, but from a conviction in my own 

* conscience; and I hope, if I live, I shall be faith- 

* ful to God:' and said moreover, j and to keep 

* those covenants that I have made with God ' And 
afterwards she said, * Oh the presence of God ! it is 

H6 



i8o PIETY PROMOTED. 

* that which my soul desires to enjoy ; God has 

* been good to me many times ; for when I have 

* been alone at home, as well as in meetings, the 
1 Lord has broken in upon my heart ; and when I 

* have been troubled and exercised in my mind, I 

* have gone in secret and prayed to the Lord, and 

* I know he has heard me, and several times an- 
1 swered my prayer, not only for myself, but for my 

* children also.' And particularly she mentioned one 
time, when one of her children was in appearance 
near to death j said she, * I bowed my soul before 
' the Lord, with earnest cries to him for my child, 
' and the child fell into a sleep, and awakened much 

* better, even before she took any medicines/ 

After some pause again, she asked the friend who 
was with her, what his thoughts were concerning her 
recovery j to which he replied he had little to say to 
that; and desired her to keep her mind stayed upon the 
Lord, whom she acknowledged had mercifully visited 
her, and she would find him still to extend his mercy 
and favour to her with his good presence, which was 
the most comfortable support upon a sick-bed. She 
replied, * God has been with me in this sickness, 
1 but I want more of his presence :' and added, * In 
' the first of my sickness, and before, at times, I 
1 used to be terrified with the thoughts of death j but 
' now it is not so, I am not afraid of death •, that fear 
' is taken away : for yesterday they thougnt I was a, 

* dying, and they were in a great hurry about me, 

* but 1 was not so in myself, for I felt great sweet- 

* ness and stillness upon my mind.' And afterwards 
she said, ' I do not find that the Lord doth lay any 
' thing to my charge.' 

And speaking concerning her child, which she 
then lay-in of, that she had much desired a son, she 
said, ' When I was last year in Ydfksl ire, God did 
t man/ times visit my soul, and I had large enjoy- 
ment of him ; and one time praying to him, I fer- 



PIETY PP.OMOTED. 181 

* vently asked the Lord to give me a son ; and now 
c God has answered me in this request •, my desire 
4 is (which she spoke with much concern) that when 
( he is grown up, he may be a preacher of righteous- 
6 ness.' She spoke upon several things, which is 
omitted, for she had a clear understanding, and was 
in a right mind and frame of spirit. 

Another time "the same person visiting her, she 
desired all in the room might be still, and she waited 
in much retiredness of mind, secretly breathing to 
the Lord in her heart, and the friend prayed by her* 
with whom she heartily joined •> upon his leaving 
her, she sa d r { This has been a good time, I have 

* many visitors, but too few of this kind : I have felt 

* the Lord's presence, but he will be quickly gone 
' again : I have not so much of these sweet enjoy- 
' ments as I desire.' After some more that passed, 
he asked her if she desired to speak with any par- 
ticular friend in the city, and he would acquaint 
them with it •, she answered, ' I have not, I am easy 
' in my mind. 5 

About three days before her departure, when it 
Was thought she was dying, the same friend being 
sent for, she told him that she was willing to die, if 
it was the will of God ; and gave him aii account of 
the concern that she had upon her mind for a rela- 
tion who came lately to visit her, whose sister had 
married one that was not called a Ouuker ; ( and,' 
said she, ' I entreated her not to do the like; also I 
( prayed her mother, that she would not suffer it to 

* be ; and I desired her not to forsake the truth, and 
c God would never forsake her ; and/ said she, 
' they both wept ; and when she comes again, I will 

* endeavour to make her promise me not to marry 
' one that is not a trend.' The person replied, l but 
' then she must also keep her promise;* to which 
she earnestly answered, ' Ah ! so she must/ The 
rest that she said at that time is omitted ; only, that 



1 82 PIETY PROMOTED. 

she had a great desire to have spoken to the other 
sister which is married, bat she said she was in the 
country. v 

Her father and mother coming to visit her found 
her in a heavenly frame of mind, and she said, 4 O 
4 mother, thou knowest that I have been afraid of 
' death, and how I have loved vain and foolish 

* tilings ; but I have prayed to the Lord to forgive me 

* all my sins : and now, instead of that fear of death, 

* there is much sweetness upon my soul; and all 
4 th se vain things 1 or.ee loved I now loathe; and 
' all the world is nothing to me :' with much more, 
expressing her satisfaction and peace of conscience; 
and spoke of the exceeding j< y and comfort that she 
felt, and how sweet the presence of God was to her 
soul ; and she made heavenly melody to God in her 
heart, which tenderly affected the minds of those 
present* 

II r sickness increasing she grew weaker; and 
though some time before she did not see that she 
should die, yet afterwards was satisfied concerning 
her departure ; and in order thereunto, bequeathed 
several things to her relations and children, and gave 
directions concerning the ordering of her children 
and family, and also where she would be buried ; 
and she received assurance of her future happiness : 
for a few hours before her decease, the said friend 
before mentioned, coming to visit her, found her 
very much spent, and her kindred and relations 
mourning about her, and he prayed, desiring that all 
might submit their wiJls to the will of God, who 
giveth and taketh away as he pleaseth. A consider- 
able time after he was gone, lying very stili, she 
said, i The voice said, Submit, submit; and I say, 
' I have submitted, I have submitted ;' <;r to the same 
effect. When these words were spoken, a relation 
present said, ' Thou art going to leave us;' she re- 
plied, ( I shail be happy.' And she also in the time 



PIETY PROMOTED. 183 

of her sickness saw a vision of the difficulty of her 
passage out of this world, and of the felicity of the 
place she at last was to arrive at -, the particular 
relation thereof I shall not now relate. 

She peaceably ended her days the 6th of the Third 
month, in the year 1701, aged Twenty-eight years. 



JOHN CROOK was born «i the year 1617 ; and 
^ received the blessed truth, as testified of by the 
people called Quakers, at its first being preached in 
Bedfordshire, which was about the year 1654, He 
was a man of note in that county, having been a 
justice of the peace ; and the Lord by his spirit 
made him an able minister of the gospel of Jesus 
Christ ; he had great discoveries in the mysteries of 
■ the gospel, was sound in doctrine, and a skilful 
archer, nkting the mark. 

In former years, when he was out of prison, he 
laboured much in publishing the gospel, and many 
were the seals of his ministry. And as he had re- 
ceived a part of the ministry, so also he had a share 
of sufferings for his faithful testimony, being im- 
prisoned in divers places, as at London, Huntingdon,. 
Aylesbury and Ipswich ; and as he sealed to the 
truth by sufferings, so he was careful to adorn the 
same by conversation, and had regard to the power 
of godliness in life and doct'ine above dead forms, 
and to the spirit above the letter, yet highly esteemed 
the holy scriptures, with respect to the sacred 
doctrine thereof, being well read therein, and devoted 
for the faith and practice thereof, as the Lord gave 
him understanding. 

He "was eloquent, allegorical and mysterious many 
times in his ministry, but did not thereby deny or 
invalidate the history of Christ, &c. as recorded in 
the holy scriptures. 



tS4 PIETY PROMOTED. 

The mystery of Christ in spirit, and as revealed 
and formed in true believers, and their sincere con-. 
formity to him in spirit and conversation, he greatly 
esteemed j desiring professors of Christianity might 
come into the true sense and experience thereof, by 
a true living and feeling faith in Christ, and sincere 
obedience to him. 

He spent his former years mostly in and about 
Bedfordshire, and the counties adjacent, and his 
latter years in Hertfordshire, being often disabled 
from travelling far, by reason of several infirmities 
of body, as the gout, chelic and stone, so that he 
would say (with Israel) " I have been afflicted from- 
u my y< urh," Psalm cxxix. And under the sorrow 
and grief that he had with some of his children, he 
would sometimes, in a tender frame of spirit, com- 
fort himself in the words of David, viz. " Although 
" my house be not so with God, he hath made with 
u me an everlasting covenant-, ordered in all things, 
* and sure, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. and said, that the Lord, 
did remember the kindness of his youth. 

His patience under his bodily infirmities was very 
remarkable, and as a good Christian he made the best- 
use of them, saying, that the furnace of affliction- 
was of good use to purge away the dross and earthy 
part in us : and that, did he not feci and witness an 
inward power from the Lord to support him, he 
could not subsist tinder his pains, they were so great ; 
especially that of the stone, which continued with 
him to his end ; yet he was not remembered to have- 
uttered an unsavory word, or impatiently to. cry out ; 
and when the extremity of his fits were over, he 
would express his inward joy and peace that he had. 
with the Lord. 

He would many times say, that many of our 
ancient friends were gone to their long home, and 
we are making haste after them ; * thus,' said he, 
4 they step away before me, and leave me behind, and J 



PIETY PROMOTED. 185 

* I that would go, cannot; well, it will be my turn 
4 soon ; J in which he seemed to rejoice. 

He finished his course the 26th day of the Second 
month, in the year 1699, in the Eighty-second year 
of his age, and was buried at friends' burial-ground 
at Sewel, in Bedfordshire. 



Of a young Woman about Twenty Years of Age. 

C ARAH BECKWITH, daughter of Marmaduke 
^ Beckwith, of Audbrough, near Masham in York- 
shire, was from a child sober and grave in her 
deportment, not addicted to ligdrt and needless words, 
but behaved herself as one that was watchful lest 
she should offend the Lord, or be an evil example 
unto others. She was- obedient to her parents, and 
tenderly affectionate unto others, one sincerely de- 
voted to serve the Lord, and seek his kingdom and 
the righteousness thereof; she loved retirement, and 
when her business was over, would walk alone in 
the fleids and other places, where she sought to the 
Lord, and would sing praises to him, when she 
thought no body saw or heard her. 

In her sickness she was much troubled with 
shortness of breath, and often prayed to the Lord, 
to enable her to praise him whilst she lived. 

About five days before her decease, having some 
ease, she desired to be raised up in her bed, and 
spoke largely of the tender dealings of God with her, 
desiring those who were young to prize their time, 
not knowing how few their days might be; ' for,* 
said she, * many are the temptations of the enemy, 
' especially to youth, presenting length of days, and 
' persuading them that it is soon enough to trouble 

* themselves with such a concern, for so he would 
' have persuaded me ; and many ways was I tempted, 

* which caused such exercises that I was brought 



1 86 PIETY PROMOTED. 

* nigh to despair ; and I sought the Lord night and 

* day, no ear heard me but the Lord alone, who 

* heard my call, and afterwards gave me some com- 

* forrable assurance of my salvation: but the enemy 

* hath been very busy, and has sorely hurried me 
4 since I began with this illness.* Afterwards she 
prayed, * O Lor,!, give me full assurance of my 

* salvation before I depart hence ! O Lord, let not 

* my distemper overcome my senses, till I come to a 

* full enjoyment ! I pray thee, let not my desires 
4 cease, till thou answer the desires of my heart-, 
4 and let nothing quench thy love.' And the Lord 
answered her cries, and caused her cup to overflow, 
so that she sung heavenly praises to the God of her 
salvation. 

She alsq gave tender advice to her sisters, and 

d them to love and fear the Lord above all, 

and keen in the truth ; saying, * Oh ! press after it,. 

* to feel the working of it in your own hearts •, and 
4 when you are in it, keep in it, and under the 
4 government of it ; and heed not to deck yourselves^ 

* but be meek and low ; none ought to pride them- 

* selves in any endowment, either beauty, or any 
4 other thing ; because it is not theirs, but the Lord's 
' who gave it them, and can take it away when he 
' pleaseth;' saying, l What is all now to me?' she 
also spoke of the condition of some who were grown 
careless, and were got into liberty ; * Such,' said 
she, 4 were ill examples to those that are coming 

* up/ And said there were many who professed 
truth that knew little what truth is : so she said it 
did not consist only in coming to meetings, and 
wearing plain apparel and the like, unless they come 
to feel the operation of truth in their own hearts y 
for all such outward appearances will stand in no 
stead, without the love of God be inward lv felt and 
enjoyed. It is an easy thing to come to meetings ; 
and some are ready to think, that doing so, and 



PIETY PROMOTED. 187 

behaving themselves soberly, is sufficient ; but the 
Lord seeth at all times, and he will have no such 
mockery. * I bless God, I have not been guilty of 

* seeming what I was not.' 

Her love was great to faithful friends, and she 
much desired their company, and wonderfully prized 
the love and mercies of God, saying, ' It is not for 
( my deserts, for I had nothing to engage the Lord 
' with, but it is his free love to me/ And she said 
there was man's righteousness, and the righteousness 
of God ; but man's righteousness must be rent off, 
and man covered with the righteousness of Christ- 
Jesus, who said, " I lead in the way of righteousness, 
* f m the midst of the paths of judgment, that I may 
cc cause those that love me to inherit substance." 
And speaking of the way of truth, she said, it was 
a straight and narrow way, and not to be kept in 
without a daily watch ; and farther said { But al- 

* though a straight way, yet it is a pleasant path, and 
/delightsome. Oh! here is peace in abundance; 

* it is so sweet, I could delight always to enjoy it, 

* and to live therein ; gold is not worthy to be com- 
6 pared to it.' And thus continued, being taken up 
with heavenly thoughts, saying, ' Lord, give me fully 

* to drink of the well of water that is within the gate, 

* for thou hast raised my heart, and I am overcome 

* with thy love : O ! I long, I long. O Lord, open 
4 thou the windows of heaven, and pour of thy 

* blessings into my soul, until there be not room to 
4 receive, that I may bless and praise thy name.' 

Her end drawing nearer, she prayed the Lord to 
give her an easy. passage; and taking her leave of 
her sister Hannah, she said if she was worse, some 
should call ; and taking her by the hand, said, ' Dear 
' sister, thou hast been near and dear to me, and 
' careful of me, the Lord requite thee, and be near 
1 to thee when thou comest to lie on thy dying-bed.' 
So, near morning, her distemper growing upon her^ 



1 88 PIETY PROMOTED. 

she said, l I am a? sensible as any of you, and I am 
1 well content to die; I have no doubt of my sal- 
* vation :' with many more good expressions, which 
could not be perfectly understood, her voice being 
low j but she was sensible to the last, saying within 
a very little time of drawing her last breath, { Lord, 
' take me away ; Lord, take me away :' and presently 
after she gently and comfortably passed out of this 
world, to live for ever in the world which hath no 
end. 

She departed this life the 2^th of the Ninth 
month, in the year 1691. 



JOHN BURNYEAT was born in the parish of 
** Lows-Water, in the county of Cumberland, about 

• »r 1631 ; and when it pleased God to send his 
faithful servant George Fox, with other of the 
messengers of the gospel of peace and salvation, to 
aim the day of the Lord in the county of 
Cumberland, and north parts of England, this dear 
servant of Christ was one that received their tes- 
timony, which was in the year 1653, when he was 
about Twenty-two years of age : and through his 
v. • lg in the iight of Christ Jesus, unto which he 
was turned, he was brought into deep judgment, 
and gteat tribulation of soul, (such as he had not 

1 in all his profession of religion) and by this 
lig of Christ were manifested all the reproved, 
thi igs 5 and so he came to see the body of death, 
and power of sin which had reigned in him, and felt 
ti:, guilt thereof upon his conscience, so that he did 
possess the sins of his youth : ' Then' said he, ' I 

* saw that I had need of a Saviour to save from sin, 

* as well as the blood of a sacrificed Christ to blot 
( out sin, and faith in his name for the remission of 

* sins ; and so being given up to bear the indignation 



PIETY PROMOTED. 189 

c of the Lord because of sin, and wait till the in- 
< dignation should be over, and the Lord in mercy 
* would b'ot out the guilt that remained (which was 
' the cause of wrath] and sprinkle my heart from an 
1 evil conscience, and wash our bodies with pure 
4 water* that we might draw near to him with a 
c true heart in the full assurance of faith/ as the 
Christians of old did, Heb. x. 22. 

Thus did this servant of the Lord, with many 
more in the beginning, receive the truth (as more at 
large may be seen in the journal of his life) in much 
fear and trembling, meeting often together, and 
seeking the Lord night and day, until the, promises 
of the Lord came to be fulfilled, spoken of by the 
prophet Isaiah, Chap. xlii. 7. xlix. 9. and lxi. 3. and 
some taste of the oil of joy came to be witnessed, and 
a heavenly gladness extended into the hearts of many, 
who in the joy of their souls broke forth in praises 
to the Lord, so that the tongue of the dumb (which 
Christ the healer of our infirmities unloosed) began 
to speak and utter the wonderful things of God. 
And great was the dread and glory of that power," 
which in one meeting after another was graciously 
and richly manifested amongst them, to the breaking 
and melting many hearts before the Lord. Thus, 
being taught of the Lord, according to Isa. liv. 13. 
John vi. 45. they became able ministers of the 
gospel, and instructors of the ignorant in the way of 
truth. 

After four years waiting mostly in silence he 
.appeared in a public testimony, which was in the 
year 1657, being at first concerned to go to divers 
public places of worship, reproving both priests and 
people for their deadness and formality of worship, 
for which he endured sore beating with their staves 
and bibles, &c. and imprisonment also in Carlisle jail, 
where he suffered twenty-three weeks imprisonment 
for speaking to one priest Denton at Briggham. 



190 PIETY PROMOTED. 

After he was at liberty he went into Scotland in 
the year 1658, where he spent three months, tra- 
velling both north and west: his work was to call 
people to repentance, from their lifeless hypocritical 
profession, and dead formalities, and to turn to the 
true light of Christ Jesus in their hearts, that therein 
they might come to know the power of God, and the 
remission of sins. 

In the year 1^50. he went into Ireland, and 
preached the truth and true faith of Jesus in many 
parts of that nation : and about the Seventh month 
following, mooting with Robert Lodge, a minister 
concerned in the same work, he joined with him, 
and they laboured together in that nation for about 
twelve. j in the work of the gospel, and re- 

turned to Cumberland in the Seventh month, 1660. 

In tire year r662 ho travelled to London, wire re 
he met with George Fox, Richard Hubberthorne, 
and Edward Burroughj and in his returning home 
through Yorkshire, at Rippon he was committed to 
prison, ronl kept fourteen weeks, for visiting the 
friends who were prisoners there. 

After lie was discharged of that imprisonment he 
returned home, where he abode, except at times 
visiting friends in adjacent counties, till the beginning 
of summer in 1664, when he took shipping again 
for Ireland, and visited most of the meetings in that 
nation: and from thence embarked for Barbadoes, 
in order to perform his journey into America, which 
had lain before him for four years •, and from Galway 
he arrived at Barbadoes, after a passage of seven 
weeks, and stayed three or four months there, and 
had great service, and much exercise also, occasioned 
by the imaginations of John Parrot, and that fleshly 
liberty he had ied many into, not only there, but in 
Virginia and other places : from Barbadoes he went 
to Maryland about the Second month, 1665, and 
afterwards to Virginia, labouring in the work of the 



PIETY PROMOTED. 193 

gospel : m the Fourth month, 1666, he came to 
New York, so to Rhode Island, New England, and 
Long Island, till the Second month, 1667, at which 
time he went again to Barbadoes, and spent that 
summer there ; and in the Seventh month, of the 
same year, he sailed from thence, and arrived at 
Milford- Haven in Wales, and laboured much in the 
gospel in this nation, from the time of his arrival 
from America, till the latter end of the year 1669, 
when he went over and did spend that winter 
among friends in Ireland, and returned to London in 
the year 1670. 

In the Fifths month, 1670, he embarked for Bar- 
badoes again, in company with William Simpson, 
who died in peace with the Lord in that island ; 
from thence he went to New York, Long Island, 
Rhode Island, and New England, and afterwards to 
Virginia and Maryland, where he met George Fox 
and several brethren just come from Jamaica ; after^ 
wards, having spent much time and labour up and 
down in America, till the 25th of the Second month, 
1673, they came from the Capes of Virginia, and 
arrived at Galway in Ireland, the 24th of the Third 
month, and from thence they came to the yearly- 
meeting at London in 1674. 

From that time he continued in this nation, 
labouring among the churches until the Eighth 
month, 1 68 1, when he went to Ireland again, and 
tarried there till the Sixth month, 1684, and then he 
came into Cumberland, and so to Scotland, and into 
the north parts of England again, visiting the meet- 
ings of friends, and so returned to Ireland the ^5th 
of the First month, 16&5-, where he tarried till he de- 
parted this life. 

In the latter part of his life he took a wife in 

Ireland, and had by her one son ; and after the death 

• of his wife he had some intentions to go for England 

about the year 1688, but seeing the troubles and 



192 PIETY PROMOTED. 

wars in Ireland coming on, and that many afflictions 
would attend friends in that nation ; and people being- 
possessed with fears lied for England ; but our dear 
friend, though he hat! opportunity, had no freedom 
to go, but gave himself up to stay with friends there, 
and bear a part of the sufferings that might attend 
them ; in which time he was a precious instrument 
in the Lord's hand, able and skilful in the ministry, 
for the comforting of his people ; for he was a 
cheerful encourager of them, a dear friend and true 
brother; a diligent overseer, and tender father; a 
perfect and upright man in his day ; and having 
been at a province-meeting at Rosean Allies, where 
he bore a living testimony to the comfort of friends, 
he went from thence to Montrath and Balinakill, 
and so to a monthly-meeting at New Garden; after 
which he came home with John Watson, and feeling 
himself not well, took his bed, and was visited with 
a fever, and continued sick twelve days ; in all 
which time he was preserved in his senses and in a 
sweet frame of spirit ; he often said he was fine at 
ease, and quiet in his .spirit, and the Lord did attend 
him with his heavenly power and presence, to his 
comfort, and the satisfaction of them about him. 
He said that he ever loved the Lord, and the Lord 
loved him from his youth. 

And so he peaceably departed this life on the I ith 
day of the Seventh month, in the year 1690, and was 
decently buried at New Garden the 14th of the same. 

Convinced at the age of Twenty-two ; a labourer 
in the gospel Thirty-three ; aged Fifty-nine years. 



TJENRY HAYDOCK, of Warrington, in the 
•**•*- county of Lancaster, was a faithful man in life 
and conversation, and walked as becometh the biesse<l 
truth, which he made profession of. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 193 

When he was upon his dying-bed, and in outward 
appearance nigh gone, the Lord, who is the God of 
the living, raised him up by his divine power, to the 
admiration of those present, to bear a living tes- 
timony for him, which was on this wise, viz. 

' Friends, I was never a public preacher in all my 

* life •, but now, by the power of God, I am one at 

* my death, glory be to God for evermore, who hath 
' the life and breath of all men in his hand, and can 
' lengthen at his pleasure ; who knows how to 
' dispose of us : therefore, friends, be you all faithful 

* to the Lord, for great things will the Lord bring 
' to pass for his people, who are true in their hearts 
' to him -, for such as serve God faithfully, they shall 

* have a living reward from him, and their rest shall 
' be with the Lord Jesus Christ ; which rest my soul 
' is already entered into, and is set down with God 
c in the paradise of his pleasure, taking its repose 
1 with God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, 
' and all the holy men of God since the foundation 
' of the world ; and though my body go down to 
i the earth, yet my soul and spirit shall have its 
' residence with the living God in heaven, where 

* they who are unfaithful to the Lord cannot come ; 
c for,' said he, ' I was well nigh my last breath, but 

* the Lord loosed my tongue, that I might declare o£ 

* his goodness.' 

Again he said, c The Lord in my healthful days 
c did put his living word in my heart, and though I 
' have been by some looked upon as a stripling, and 
' as one that knew not much of the things of God, 
1 yet my soul hath had many sweet seasons and. 
' opportunities.' 

Again he said, '■ I have a very good wife, faithful 

* and loving to me, and three sweet children ; call 

* them, that I may kiss them before I die, for my 

* time here will not be long.' So they brought one 
of his daughters to him, and he said, ' Thou art 

Vol. I. I 



1 94 PIETY PROMOTED. 

4 Elizabeth my youngest daughter,' and kissed her 
many times ; and farther said, * Silver and gold I 

* have not much to leave thee; thou hast hitherto 
' been a good child, the blessings of the living God 
c rest upon thee, and the blessing of me thy dying 
i father be with thee also.' So then he took his son, 
and said, ' Thou art Roger my sweet son, in thee 

* have I taken grdat delight, yet now thy father is 

* about to take his last breath ; and that which I 
' desire of the Lord, is, that he will bless thee and 

* thy two sisters, and bless you all, that you may 

* keep up my name, and live as your father hath 

* done *, though I have not filled up the number of 

* many years, yet I, thy father, do witness peace 

* wiili God : ' and with that, being pretty much 
spent, he said, 'The Lord bless tree my son and thy 

* two sisters; the blessing of your father be with 
1 you all;' and so kissed-him many times, and let him 
go. Then he called for his daughter Alice, and said, 
1 Thou art Alice my first born, and I love thee well, 

* it hath been real and true ; and though some men 

* can shew it more, yet I love you all well, and I 

* hope the Lord's care will be over you when 1 am 

* dead and gone ; and I believe you will not want. 
1 Alice, (said he) kiss me, for thou must never kiss 
' me more : ' so clasping her in his arms, he kissed 
her, and bid her farewell. And then said, * I have now 
1 made an end of what lay upon my mind ; therefore, 

* everlasting, living, pure, invisible God, into thy 

* hand of power I recommend my soul ;' and so lay 
still and quiet till a little before his departure, when 
the very pangs of death seized on him ; then was 
his sighings many, yet had the savour of life in 
them : afterwards he lay still and very quiet, re- 
joicing in his spirit, and said, l My soul doth mag- 

* nify the Lord, and my spirit rejoiceth in God my 
c saviour, who hath saved me from sin ; but what 
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PIETY PROMOTED. 195 

6 devil, they will have a bad portion in the end/ 
And he said, c Though there may some of all per- 
c suasions find salvation, yet that people, in scorn 
' called Quakers, who are really faithful to God, 
' are satisfied in God, and they know salvation to 
4 their immortal souls, having been redeemed by 

* Jesus Christ who is come to save many.' And he 
prayed for his brother and sister, saying, c O Lord, 
' thou knowest I have one brother and sister, who 
c are not in that faith which I am about to lay down 
c my head in ; Lord, bring them to it, if it be thy 
' blessed will, and confirm them in the same, that 
6 they may receive that blessed reward thou hast 

* made my soul a witness of.' And said, ' So my 

* strength now failing, as to my outward man, I 
c once more recommend my soul into thy hands, 
' Lord Jesus Christ/ 

He departed this life the 5th day of the Fourth 
month, in the year 1688, aged about Thirty-three 
years. 



nPHOMAS JANNEY was born in Cheshire, and 
-* received the blessed truth at the first preaching 
thereof in that county, which was about the year 
1654, being then in the Twenty-first year cf his age; 
and the next year he received a gift in the ministry, 
preaching the gospel of Christ freely, and travelled 
into many parts of England and also in Ireland, and 
had a fervent and sound testimony for truth, and his 
conversation and course of life accorded with his 
doctrine. ' 

In the year 1683, he with his family went to 
Pennsylvania, and there settled ; where he staid 
about twelve years ; and in the year 1 695, he came 
over again in company with his friend Griffith, of 
Pennsylvania, to visit his brethren in England : and 
after he had staid some time in London, he went 
It, 



196 PIETY PROMOTED. 

into Cheshire in the Sixth month of the same year, 
where he had many relations that were faithful 
friends ; and though they were clear to him, ami 
their houses might have been his home, yet he 
rested little, but visited the meetings of friends in 
several neighbouring counties. 

The next spring he travelled through .several 
counties where he had been in former years ; and as 
he had a desire to see the brethren at the yearly- 
meeting in London, he was there at that time •, soon 
after which he was tnken so ill (having decayed in 
his natural strength before) that his recovery was 
much doubted ; and some advised him to go out of 
the city for the recovery of his health. After some 
time he adventured by short journeys, as from 
London to Enfield, so to Hertford, and from thence 
to Hitchin, where his distemper increasing he could 
go no further, having a purpose to have gone for 
Cheshire. At Hitchin he lay a considerable time at 
the house of our friend William Turner, and friends 
there were careful and tender over him ; and he 
having endured much hardship formerly in the 
seivice of truth, by travelling into several climates, 
>and enduring heats and colds, his body was attended 
with much pain, so that few expected his recovery. 

Two of his relations, who were friends, came 
from Cheshire to Hitchin to visit him, and one of 
them being with him in his chamber, he said to this 
effect: l Cousin, I am glad that you are come ; I 

* hardly expect to recover so as to be able to get 

* into Cheshire. It is some exercise to think of 
4 being taken away, so far from my home and family, 

* and also from my friends and relations in Cheshire. 

* I would gladly have got down into Cheshire, but I 

* must be content, however it pleases God to order it. 

* Worse things have happened in this life to better 

* men than I am. I shall be missed in America; 
- c friends there were troubled when I came away •, I 



PIETY PROMOTED, 197 

* have laboured faithfully amongst them ; they will 
{ be grieved at_ the tidings of my death ; my family 

* will want me. My care hath been for my sons, 
6 that they may be kept in the fear of God ; I have 
c been a good example to them ; I have a care upon 

* me, ' that they may be kept humble while they are 

* young, that they may bend their necks under the 
' yoke of Christ. If I am taken away, I am very 

* clear in my spirit ; I have answered the requirings 

* of God; I have been faithful in my day, and I 

* have nothing that troubles my spirit, my spirit is 
1 very clear.' And he also expressed his concern for 
his brethren in the ministry, especially the joung, 
that they might observe the leadings of God's spirit 
in their ministry, and not lean upon their own natural 
parts, which, he said, did occasion divers inconveni- 
ences ; of which he spoke particularly in the time 
of his sickness. 

After this, the Lord answered his desire, that he 
recovered, so as to be able to get down to Cheshire 
to his relations there, and he got abroad to some 
meetings that winter, but yet weakly in body ; and 
towards the spring he made preparation to get home 
to his family in Pennsylvania ; but before the ship 
set sail, his distemper (which had not quite left him) 
returned sore upon him : so he went to his sister's, 
near where he was born, and she spoke something 
to him about his family, but he said little, only these 
words, * If it be the will of God that I be taken 

* away now, I am well content;' which was the 
most he said in his last illness, save to a friend con- 
cerning his burial. 

He departed in much quietness of mind the 12th 
of the Twelfth month, in the year 1696, and was 
buried the 15th of the same, in friends burying-place, 
in Cheshire, aged Sixty-three years, having been a 
public minister forty- two years. 

13 



198 PIETY PROMOTED. 

TTENRY STOUT, of Hertford, born at Ware, 
■*■-*- in the county of Hertford, in the year 163 1, 
was convinced of the blessed truth, by the ministry 
of a woman in the year 16^5, being then about 
the Twenty-fourth year of his age j at which time 
some of the people called Quakers came into that 
part of the county, concerning whom he had heard 
evil reports, and that they denied the scriptures ; 
which had prejudiced his mind against them : but it 
so happened, that there came a woman called a 
Quaker, and preached in Ware market ; and after- 
wards a rude rabble followed her down the street, 
and he seeing them, followed her also, in pity to- 
wards her, and to rescue her from them •, but she 
turned into a house where there was a meeting, and 
a iriend was speaking there, unto whom he listened, 
and heard him speak much Scripture, although he 
named neither chapter or verse ; at which he won- 
dered, because he had heard that they denied the 
scriptures ; but after he thus lent an ear, the woman 
stood up and spoke, and such a power attended her 
ministry, that his spirit was much broken, and aston- 
ishment seized on him'-, and he saw others also 
with paleness of face, and they smote their hands. 
This brought great fear upon him lest he should 
be deceived j yet was he afraid also that he should- 
ofFend God and resist the day of his visitation : this 
brought great sorrow upon him for a time, he not 
being able to distinguish ; but afterwards going to> 
another meeting, he heard another woman, by whose 
preaching his convincement was increased \ and he 
was so confirmed, that he could set to his seal that 
it was the very truth which had long been veiled in 
him y but now, by the preaching of the gospel was. 
revealed, and could say, Christ was come, and he 
looked not for another j and it was confirmed by 
the work that was wrought both within and without ; 
first within, the eye which had been shut was now 



PIETY PROMOTED. 199 

opened, and the ear that had been deaf, did now 
hear, and the mouth of the dumb could speak, and 
the lame could walk, and the mysteries of the king- 
dom of God were known, which before were in 
parables. And he searched the holy scriptures, and 
found that it was the good old way, though new 
to him and others ; and the scriptures were opened 
by the spirit that gave them forth, and a witness for 
God he had in himself, according to John i. 5, 10. 
fit He that believes, hath the witness in himfelf." 
Then he took up the cross and denied himself, and 
so became a gazing stock to the world (as the Lord's 
people were in those days, as well as in former ages) 
and soon after he was moved of the Lord to go to 
the publick places of worship, to declare against 
them, and to preach the truth : then persecution 
and sufferings soon followed ; for many and various 
were the trials and exercises which the Lord's people 
went through in their day. 

He was the first called a Quaker that suffered 
imprisonment in Hertford jail, for the testimony to 
the truth, where his sufferings were great, the prison- 
windows being shut, that he might not have the 
benefit of the air, or the light of the day. And 
after he was released of that imprisonment, he was 
a prisoner five times more in that town of Hertford 1 
the last of which he was sentenced for banishment, 
and continued a prisoner near eight years, to the 
great detriment of his health, being often put into 
the common jail ; which trials the Lord carried him 
through with much patience, contentedness, and 
quietness of mind, he being given up to the will of 
God. 

He was a serviceable man in many respects, and 
willing to do what offices of love he could for any : 
he travelled pretty much in the service of truth in 
his younger years, whilst he had strength of body, 
but some . time before his death, distempers grew^ 

14 



2oo PIETY PROMOTED. 

and weakness increased upon him, which made him 
incapable of being much from home. 

The last four months before his death, he went 
little abroad, but grew weaker and weaker ; the 
which his wife perceiving, did much importune him 
to advise with some doctor ; but he answered her 
thus, ' I would not have thee confide too much in 
' doctors, for they will all prove physicians of no 

* value to me: I thank God, I know that power 
1 which in former ages raised the dead, and healed 

* ail diseases \ and if it is the will of God, he can 

* restore and heal me 3 if not, I am satisfied; his will 
' be done/ 

I lis greatest infirmity was a stoppage at his sto- 
mach, and shortness of breath, which often brought 
faintings upon him ; but he bore all with great pa- 
tience : and when some friends came to visit him, 
he told them his weakness was such that he thought 
he should hardly recover it; but however it pleased 
God to order it, he was fully satisfied : for he had 
this testimony, that he had served the Lord with 
faithfulness, and with an upright heart, to the best of 
his knowledge : with more to that effect-, which 
cannot be well remembered : and at another time 
to a friend that came to see him, he said, * There is 

* none that knows the virtue and goodness of truth 
' so well as when they draw near their latter end, 

* when all outward comforts fail, and are leaving of 
' them, and sickness and weakness comes upon them.* 
Ke further said that he had travelled in the service 
of truth in former years, when he had strength of 
body, and the Lord had given him many living 
testimonies to bear for his name ; in all which he 
was faithful, and the remembrance of it warmed his 
heart at that time ; for he could say that his care 
%vas not to speak more than what the Lord gave him 
to speak, that thereby his name might be honoured. 
And many times, and upon several occasions, he ao 



PIETY PROMOTED, 20 1 

expressed himself, as fully manifested that true satis- 
faction and peace he had with the Lord ; often de- 
siring to be dissolved, that he might go home to his 
rest. And the Lord's love and gentle dealing ap- 
peared^very large towards him, in giving him many 
times ease of body, and comfortable seasons of re- 
freshment; and he generally rested well in the night, 
till about a week before his death. The sense of it 
would often make him break forth into praises and 
thanksgiving to the Lord, for his goodness- and mercy 
to him in the night-season. When he awaked out 
of his sleep, and when his sleep was taken from him r , 
yet he continued quiet, patient, and sensible to the 
last moment. And when his wife saw that he slept 
little, and took, little? hardly enough to keep him 
alive, she was full of grief; which he perceiving, 
said to her, ' Thou must give me up, for I shall not 
' long continue here : but it will not be long before- 
'thou and I shall meet again in that blessed state,-. 

* where ail tears shall be wiped from, our eyes,' 

He kept his bed but four days 5- and -the day 
before his -death, his children being by him, he said" 
to them, ' You, who are like to enjoy what I have,- 
*"I would have you to remember the advice of your- 
' old father when I am gone, and live in the fear' 
' of God, and as it-becomes the truth ; then you will 

* be as monuments when I am gone, and it will go- 
'.well with you, and what I leave will be a blessing 
'to you: and beware of earthly-mindedness, .and 
'pride and prodigality, which ic a dishonour to any 

* family; and bring up your children in plainness, 
'-and not in the fashions and superfluities of the 
'world,, which passeth away. Remember my advice, 
' who speaks to you in 'ove : for wo will be to the 
'-wicked : I would say more to you, but rny "strength s 
' failethV 

The day he died he spoke httle, but lay as if he- 
slept; but sometimes fainting fits would come 5 that • 
*5 



202 PIETY PROMOTED. 

it was thought he would have gone away in one of 
them -, but he did not, but fell into a slumbering ; 
and when he awaked, he desired to be turned on the 
other side, and then he stretched out his hands and 
feet, and said, * Now I am going to the Lord;' 
which were the last words he spoke : and so departed 
in peace, without so much as a groan or sigh. 

Thus he finished his course, and laid down his 
body, the 6th of the Tenth month, in the year 
1605, m ^ le Sixty-fifth year of his age. 



rpHjOMAS ALDAM, of Warnsworth, in York- 
-■- shire, received the glad tidings of the gospel 
of life and salvation very early, viz. in the year 165 1, 
by the preaching of that eminent and faithful servant 
of Christ Jesus, George Fox, soon after he was de- 
livered out of the dungeon in Darby prison ; at 
which time this Thomas Aldam, John Kellam, 
Thomas Kellam. Richard Farnsworth, Thomas Good- 
vear, and several others of note, received the truth j 
and many smTerings, beatings, reproaches, spoiling 
of goods, and imprisonments, he endured for Christ's 
sake and the gospel's, being often concerned to go 
into market-places, and public places of worship, 
bearing testimony against the wickedness of the world, 
and against such teachers and leaders as caused them 
to err, through lightness, pride and covetousness. 

Before he was convinced, he was a great follower 
of the priests and teachers of those times, but his 
hungering and thirsty soul not being satisfied amongst 
them, he left them, and waited as alone, until it 
pleased the Lord to send his servant George Fox, 
as aforesaid, into those parts of the country. And 
he having received the truth, was valiant for the 
same upon earth, and gave up his strength and sub- 
stance to serve the Lord. He was yery zealous and 



PIETY PROMOTED; 203 

fervent in spirit, severe against evil, but tender to 
the least appearance of that which was good, watch- 
ing over his children in the fear of God, given to 
charity., and to do good to all. 

He was one of the first called a Quaker, who was 
imprisoned in York Castle upon that account, in the 
year 1652. It was for going to Warnsworth steeple- 
house, and speaking to Thomas Rookbey, priest of 
that place, who procured his imprisonment at York, 
where he was kept two years and six months so 
close, that he was not suffered once to come home, 
nor see any of his children ; and sometimes not per- 
mitted to see his wife and relations w r hen they went 
to visit him. He was also fined during that imprison- 
ment, ^40 -at the assizes, for appearing before the 
judge with his hat on his head, and for speaking 
thee and thou to him. 

And also during the aforesaid imprisonment, his 
adversary, Rookbey, the priest, and one Vincent, 
an impropriator, sued him at the law for treble 
damages, and they made spoil of his goods to the 
value of .*£ 42 ; not leaving one cow to give milk 
for his -young children and family. Thus he suffered 
for his faithful testimony to the coming of the Lord 
Jesus Christ in the flesh, and for his free ministry ; 
at other times also he suffered the loss of goods for 
his testimony to the truth. 

And as he had been a sufferer himself, so he had 
a tender sympathy for the Lord's people, his brethren, 
who were sufferers for the truth, and would go 
oftentimes to Oliver Cromwell, and others the rulers 
of those times, and lay the sufferings of friends be- 
fore them. 

He also travelled into Scotland and Ireland, and 
went to the chief rulers there upon the same account. 

And he went to all, or most of the prisons in 
England, where there were any of the people called 
Quakers; to take a perfect account of their suffer- 
16 



204 PIETY PROMOTED. 

ings, that he might be the move capable to advocate 
their cases before the government, being ready at 
assizes, sessions, or elsewhere, to plead the cause 
of God's people. 

He had a tender regard to love and unity among 
brethren, bearing good esteem in his mind for such 
»s laboured in the gospel. 

And when lie was about to undertake any journey 
upon truth's account, he would call his family to- 
gether, and in much humility pour out his sup-plica- 
tion to God to preserve them. 

After thus having served his generation in faith- 
fulness, he was visited with sickness, in which time 
he set his house in order ; and in the time of his 
weakness, the Lord was good unto him, -and emi- 
nently appeared with him, so that he said to his 
sister, near his latter end, that he found his strength 
so renewed, that he believed he could get to London, 
if the Lord required it : but lie answered again, 'I am 
* clear of the blood of all men : I find nothing to 
1 this man,' meaning king Charles the Second, then 
lately restored to this kingdom. 

He was very sensible of his latter end ; and the 
day he died he called for his children, and exhorted 
them to live in the fear of God, and to love and 
obey their mother : and so being freely resigned 
into the hands of God his Creator, he departed this 
life in the Fourth month, in the year 1660. 

His w r ife Mary Aldam, survived him but three 
months. She was a woman fearing God, and served 
him in her generation : and in all the exercises which 
her hucband passed through, in those early days, 
she never was heard to grudge or repine, but was 
given up in all things to God's disposing. Her re- 
membrance is sweet, and her name to be recorded 
amongst the faithful of God's people : she received 
truth by the ministry of George Fox, at the same 



PIETY PROMOTED. 2-5 

time her husband did, and bore testimony to the 
same truth, according to her measure. 
He had also two sisters, faithful women. 



XTARGARET KELLAM, who was convinced 
-*■ about the year 1651, travelled much in truth's 
service in the breaking forth thereof, and many were 
convinced by her. She also suffered imprisonment 
for the same at Exeter, Yoik, and Banbury in 
Oxfordshire; and great was the courage that attended 
her in preaching truth in the streets, markets, and 
publick places of worship, and to the rulers of the 
people •, and the Lord was with her. 

She finished her course in faith, signifying before 
her departure the great peace she enjoyed with the 
Lord, and the clearness of conscience she had before 
ham. And so departed this life in the year 1672. 



TOAN KELLAM was also a woman that truly 
*■* feared God, and a good example where she dwelt; 
she was of sound judgment, and well experienced in 
the work of the Lord ; zealous for his honour, and 
faithful to the truth ; an encourager of virtue, and 
watching over the young, and an- instructor of them 
in the right way of the Lord ; and could sp^ak a 
word in due season to an afflicted soul, having passed 
through many states, and seen the wonders and 
goodness of the Lord therein -, and was as a mother 
in Israel. 

In the time of her sickness she was well disposed, 
and gave good advice to them she left behind her, 
that they might persevere in faithfulness, to the 
finishing of that work which the Lord had for them. 
to do. So departed this life in the year 1681. 



oo6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

CAR AH BROWN, wife of Capt. Brown, of 
^ Leicestershire, and mother to Samuel Brown, 
physician in the town of Leicester, was one who 
did in her young years fervently and sincerely seek 
the Lord, and frequented the assemblies of the best 
sort of people in that day, called Puritans ; after- 
wards she joined herself to the Baptists, among 
whom she walked inoffensively. 

But when it pleased God to raise up his people 
called Quakers, in the Northern parts of this nation, 
and gave some of them commission to publish the 
way of life and salvation, she received their testimony 
great joy and thankfulness to the Lord, and 
was a nursing mother among that people. And her 
husband, at her request, gave up his house for friends 
to keep meetings in (even at the breaking forth of 
truth in that day; and lie counted nothing too dear 
to part with for truth's sake, and was a good ex- 
ample in conversation, in temperance, meekness, and 
chastity, towards those with whom she was con- 
cerned : a true wife, and a tender mother, a loving 
relation, and a good neighbour and firm friend : she 
had a word of comfort in due sear.on to many when 
in afflictions ; she loved to visit the widow and the 
fatherless, the prisoners, and the house of mourning., 
and to feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, and 
to wash the saints feet. She suffered imprisonment, 
and spoiling of goods, for the truth's sake, counting 
ail as dross and dung, that she might win Christ. 

When death came she received it with contented- 
ness, being given up to God's good will and pleasure, 
and she lived to old age. 

A friend visiting her in her last sickness, said to 
her, ' The Lord hath sent his messenger,' (meaning, 
that her end was at hand) she made answer, ( He is 
come;' and desired the Lord to give her an easy 
passage. She was first taken ill in the night with a 
violent pain in her legs, and her son Samuel Brown, 



PIETY PROMOTED. 207 

being presently called, she prayed to the Lord to 
mitigate the violence of her pain, and to give her 
strength to bear his hand with patience. Her son 
was much grieved for her 5 which she perceiving, 
said, ' Child, do not do so ; rejoice and be glad, 

* for thou hast no other cause ; thou hast been a 
c dutiful and loving son to me, even to the full : ' 
and the Lord answered her prayer 5 and in a short 
time took away the violence of her pain : and she 
praised the Lord, and blessed his name, for his 
nlercies and goodness ; speaking of his great mercy 
and favour to her all her life long, to the great com- 
fort of her children about her; and blessed her son, 
saying, k The Lord bless thee and thine, for thy 

* love and duty to me \ for I do rejoice that thou 

* wast born unto me.' Also to her son's wife she 
said, * Daughter, thou didst promise to take care of 

* me, when weakness should approach 5 and now 
' thou art as good as thy word : the Lord bless thee 
e and thine, for all your love to me/ And in the sense 
of the love of the Lord to her she prayed, * O Lord, 
c guide thy poor hand-maid into thy everlasting king- 

* dom, where I may sing hallelujahs to thee for 
' ever.' 

She gave order, two days before her departure, 
(being sick but six days) to be buried at Leicester, 
by her grandchildren ; and so died in a good old 
age, at her son, Samuel Brown's, at Leicester, on 
the 30th of the Ninth month, in the year 1693, aged 
Eighty-three years. 



XyT LLIAM WALKER, an inhabitant of Penn- 
* - sylvania, born in Yorkbhire, but convinced in 
Pennsylvania, was one who bore a living testimony 
to the truth of God in the assemblies of his people. 
He came over to visit his friends and brethren in 
England about the latter end of the year 1693, in 



2o8 PIETY PROMOTED. 

company with other friends from those parts, which 
was about the time George Keith came over from 
America. And this our friend often expressed his 
great sorrow for George Keith, and the sore exercise 
and trouble he gave to friends in America, by his 
contention and jangling *, and he had a testimony 
against that spirit but a few days before he died§ 
that God would judge ir. 

After he had visited friends about London, he 
went into ties, . d also into Wales j 

and returned to London, in order to be at the Yearly- 
meet:: a j a little b ;fore which time he was 
and endeavours were used for his. 
recovery, but they proved unsuccessful. In the 
time oi his sickness, he was often filled with the 
love and power of God in his soul, to the comfort 
of those present. And observing some to weep, lie 
said, ' Weep not, dear hearts, 1< t you GroubJe me.' 
Afterward^ he said, * O the goodness of the Lord!' 
And lifting up his hands, he said, ' Lord, thou art 
■ altog^ ther able to do wonderful things ! Thou shalt 
M my physician. Oh the wonder? cf. the Lord! 

* What have 1 seen of the transcendent glory!- 
' Though I see but a little, yet it is admirable glory*.' 
Again he said, i The old enemy would have had me 

* let go my hold; but I said, 1 have an interest irr 
4 thee, and I will hold th.ee, Lord/ Tho^e about 
him being desirous he might recover, he :aid, 4 Nay, 
' I have no promise of life.' Speaking of Christ, 
he said, * I can see him \ his arm is open to receive 

* me/ After some time he said, ' The Lord is a i 

* phy-ician indeed, a physician of value/ Another 
time he sa : d, * Y\ r e must ail double our. diiigence/ 
And lving ar.other time in a still frame of* mind, 
he sang forth in sweet -melody as foiio. =th ; \ His 
' compassion fails not; he waits to be gracious . : Jh 

* the wonders of the Lord ! The wonders cf the 
[ Lord in the deep/. Another time he said, ( My 



PIETY PROMOTED. 209 

* faith is stedfast in the dear Son of God ; that al- 

* though I am under great weakness and afflictions, 
4 yet in the strength of mv Father's love I shall be 
4 enabled to stand against the mists of darkness \ the 
4 enemy would fain unpin my faith : God's people 
4 are always preserved while they wait still at home. 

* O Lord jesus Christ ! I will hold thee fast \ thy 
4 compassion fails not. O sweet Jesus Christy I 
4 have great cause to hold thee fast. O sweeten 

* death unto ' me ! Oh thy sweet presence ! for in it 

* there is life : Oh Lord, give me strength •, I will 
4 not let thee go : thou hast regard to them that 
4 fear thee, thy compassion fails not •, thou art at 

* my right hand to uphold me j Oh my Saviour \ 
4 thou art at my right hand to save me ; thy com- 
' passion fails not, O Lord.' Afterwards he said, 
4 Oh Lord Jesus ! Come, sweet Jesus, I long for 

* thee ; now death is pleasant/ 

His wife's sister being by him, he said, 4 Fear the 
4 Lord God/ She said, 4 Wouldest thou any thing 

* to thy wife/ He answered, ' My dear and tender 
4 love in the Lord Jesus unto her, and to all my 
4 dear friends every where *, and that you may double 

* your diligence, to your soul's comfort, the days you 
4 have here. My dear love to our dear friends in 
4 America, where I have been sweetly refreshed, 
4 and had many good meetings among them/ After 
a little repose he said, 4 Oh Fountain of Life !' Then 
stopped, and thus spoke again, 4 I cast the care of 
4 my dear wife and children, if living, upon the Lord ; 
4 I trust in him/ After some rest, he said, 4 Lord 
4 Jesus Christ, come, receive my poor soul : come, 
4 O my soul's beloved ! Come, Lord, I long for 
4 thee, Lord Jesus Christ-, if there be any iniquity 
4 in me, search it out.' Afterwards he said, ' I 
c feel the angel of thy presence to surround me: 
4 come, Lord Jesus Christ, come, come, receive my 
f soul into thy bosom/ Again he said, 4 Come 5 Lord 



2io PIETY PROMOTED. 

6 Jesus Christ; let me intreat thee come away, and 
1 receive me out of all sorrow ; come away, my 
1 Lord.' After a little time he said, ' I feci the 
1 Fountain of Life, my soul's Beloved, is come.' And 
so died in peace with the Lord, as those then present 
can testify, that he was in a sweet heavenly fiame 
of spirit vhen he drew his last breath, which was 
on the i 2th of the Fourth month, in the year 1691, 
at the house of John Padley, in Olave's Parish, South- 
ward 

Of a Child about Eleven Years of Age. 

T)UTH MIDDLETON, daughter of Samuel 
A Middleton and Rebecca his wife, was visited 
With a consumption in the Tenth month, 1700, and 
continued in much weakness of body till the 1 6th of 
the Fifth month, 1701. During her sickness, these 
expressions as follow (among others) were observed. 
One time, her mother being much concerned to 
part with her. the child lying still as if she was in a 
slumber, opened her eyes and said, * What's the 

* matter ? what's the matter ? My dear mother, do 

* not be troubled for me, nor do not sorrow for me, 

* I shall be happy ; and it is the Lord's will that I 

* am thus afflicted, and we must be contented : thou 
( knowest that Abraham was willing to ofFer up his 
1 only son Isaac ; and thou dost not know if thou 
1 couldest freely give me up, but that the Lord 
' might spare me a little longer to thee •, and if it be 
f his good pleasure to take me to himself, his holy 

* name be blessed for ever/ Another time her 
mother said, * How art thou now?' She replied, 
c But indifferent ; but I am well satisfied ; for it is 
1 the will of God that I am thus afflicted. Oh ! my 
c dear mother, I would be glad if thou couldest freely 

* give me up.' One time, going to slumber, she 
prayed thus 5 " Our Father which art in heaven. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 211 

u hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy 
" will be done in me, as it is in heaven :" l oh sweet 

* Lord Jesus, feed me daily with the bread that 
' comes down from heaven. And, Lord, if it stand 

* with thy will, grant that I may sleep to refresh this 

* poor needy body : but thou, Lord, knowest what I 

* stand in need of better than I can ask 5 Lord, be 
6 with me, and my father, and mother, and brother.* 
And thereupon she went to sleep : and when she 
awoke, she said, ■ Oh blessed and praised be thy 

* holy name, O Father of life ! for thou hast heard 

* my desires, and hast answered me y for I have slept 

* sweetly.' 

Another time she said, c The Lord said to his fol- 
lowers, " Suffer little children to come unto me, and 
w forbid them not, for o£ such is the kingdom of 
fi heaven." 'And if I be not happy, what will be- 

* come of ungodly men and women ? for truly I am 
' afraid of offending any body, for fear I should 
4 offend the Lord/ One time she said, * Pray mo- 
' ther, have a, strict eye over my brother, for he is 

* very full of play.' A friend, after enquiring how 
she did, said, ' I hope thy eye is still to the Lord :' 
her reply was, ( Although I can hardly speak, I think 
c upon the Lord, and he knows my thoughts, and 
' answers them ;' with more sensible -words. 

Another time she said, f It will not be long be- 

* fore I shall be at rest and peace, where there is no 
' more pain to the body nor to the mind .5 and where 
c there is nothing but joy for evermore. Dear mo- 

* ther, be willing to part with me, for I am willing 

* to part with you all ; I am not at all concerned for 
6 myself, but for thee, poor mother, who doth, and 

* will make thy bed a bed of tears often for me.' 

Hearing her mother question her recovery, she 
said, * Oh ! what the Lord pleases 5 for I am not 
6 afraid of death ; I never v/ronged any body of a pin 
( to my knowledge, nor loved to make excuses: I 



2i x PIETY PROMOTED. 

* never told a lye but once ; when I should have said 
' yes, I said no : but that has been a great trouble to 
' me ; but the Lord, I hope, will forgive me, for I 
1 called the maid, and told her the truth.' 

Near her end she desired to come out of the coun- 
try to London, and said, c The air does me no good, 

* nor the doctor does me no good: the Lord is the 
€ same at home, as here.' And when she was removed 
home, she said, ' Now I am glad ; if I die it is better 
1 to be here, and w-ill save a great deal of trouble.' 

A friend asked her if she was willing to leave 
father and mother, and go to the Lord ; after some 
pause she answered, ' If the Lord please, I am wil- 
1 ling this very minute to leave all, for I shall be 
' happy.' 

The night before her departure, after a friend had 
prayed by her, she said, ' I do understand well, and 

* am inwardly refreshed : I am sorry that I cannot 

* speak so that the friend could hear, or else I would 
' give an account of my inward peace with the Lord.' 

A few hours before her death she thus prayed, 
but her voice was very low ; 4 Oh, Lord ! withhold 
' not thy tender mercies from me at the hour of 

* death. O Lord ! let thy loving-kindness continu- 
1 ally preserve me.' Afterwards she said, * I desire 

* to slumber *, but if I die before I wake, I desire the 
' Lord may receive my soul.' 

She was thankful for the tender regard her mother 
had to her, and with a low voice said, i Farewell, 

* dear mother; in the love of the Lord, farewell.' 
And then desired to see her father and brother ; and 
feeling for her brother's face, she stroked him and 
said, * Farewell, be a good boy.' 

Her father asking her how it was with her, she 
replied, ' I am just spent, but I am very easy, and 
' shall be very happy. My body is full of pain, but 
' the angel of the Lord is with me, and his presence 

* will for ever preserve me ;' and so kissed her rela* 
tions, and bid them all farewell. 



PIETY PROMOTED, 213 

Her last words were her desire to be remembered 
to the friends who did visit her in her sickness, and 
in less than half a quarter of an hour, like a lamb 
she departed this life, on the 16th of the Fifth month, 
in the year 1701, being Eleven years, Two months, 
and Four days old. 



A LEXANDER JAFFRAY, of Kingswell, in the 
■* *■ north of Scotland, born in the city of Aberdeen, 
was one who early remembered his Creator, and as 
he grew in years he increased in a religious concern 
towards God, and those whom he esteemed feared 
liim ; and joined, when young, with the Presby- 
terians, though he was educated in another form of 
religion ; but some time after, when those people 
got into rule and government, they forgot their for- 
mer low and persecuted condition, and grew high, 
rigid, and fierce persecutors of others, therefore he 
soon disliked them, and signified the same to some 
of the chiefest among them, having been himself one 
of those commissioners, who were deputed by the 
nation of Scotland to treat on articles with king 
Charles the Second, then in Holland, in the year 
1650. 

After he left the Presbyterian way, for some time 
he was among the Independents, and finding them 
also to be for setting up themselves, and persecuting 
others, he could no longer follow them. After this 
he remained in private for some years a solitary 
mourner, not joining with any professions in re- 
ligion ; not suffering several of his children to be 
sprinkled or baptized (as they called it) because he 
could not own their way of constituting of national 
churches ; and this was long before he was called a 
Quaker : and in this solitary retirement he sought 
tKe Lord, waiting for a people who were spiritually 



214 PIETY PROMOTED. 

touched with a divine coal from the altar, to kindle 
true and spiritual sacrifices to God. 

When first he heard that God had raised up such 
a people in England, who directed all to God's pure 
light, spirit and grace in their own hearts, as the 
most sure teacher and leader into all truth, worship 
and religion, he said he felt his heart to leap within 
him for joy : and after weighty examination concern- 
ing that people called Quakers, who preached the 
truth among them, he found his heart and soul 
united to them : this was in the year 1662, a time 
when it was as bitter a cross, even as death, to 
own them, especially to one of his repute; and 
shortly afcer Mere several more men of note, in that 
nation, convinced 01* the same way of truth, as John 
Swinton in the south parts, David Barclay, Alexander 
Skein, Th6m'as Mercer, znd others. 

This made the priests and others persecute them ; 
but they stood their ground through the grace of 
God, and boldly bore their testimony (particularly 
this Alexander JaiTray) valiantly contending for the 
truth in solemn conferences with the bishop of 
Aberdeen, and the chief, preachers of that city. 

He was faithful in his testimony to the truth to 
the last ; and in his sickly old age was imprisoned 
many miles from his own house, for nonpayment of 
tithes : and this is remarkable, that a little before this 
imprisonment, he being near to death, as was judged 
by all who saw him, he signified under his hand, 
being altogether unable to speak by a great swelling 
in his throat, that his God had yet a service for him 
to do for him, in suffering for his precious truth > 
and that he was not to die at that time. 

He was taken sick the latter end of the Fourth 
month, 1673, and during the twelve days of his 
sickness, he uttered many living testimonies to the 
blessed truth, before many witnesses, both friends 



PIETY PROMOTED. 2x5 

and other people, who visited him ; a few of them 
are as follow $ 

He said that it was his great joy and comfort in 
that hour, that ever he had been counted worthy to 
bear a testimony to, and suffer for that precious 
testimony of Christ Jesus, his inward appearance in 
the hearts of the children of men, visiting all by his 
light, grace and spirit, that convinceth of sin ; and 
that it was, and would be the great judgment and 
condemnation of many in this nation, particularly of 
the professors, that they have so slighted and de- 
spised, yea, hated the said light and witnesses there- 
unto. 

Sometimes being overcome in spirit, he said, 
1 Now Lord, let thy servant depart in peace, for 

* mine eyes spiritually have seen, my heart hath felt, 
' and feeling, and shall ever feel thy salvation/ 

He also prophesied of a great and near trial 
shortly to come, wherein some that were not what 
they seemed to be, should de discovered and fall ; 
but the upright and lowly ones, the lowly shrubs 
should be preserved, when tall and sturdy oaks should 
be overthrown ; which is since fulfilled upon some. 

He farther said, that the Lord had given him 
the garments of praise, instead of the spirit of 
heaviness. 

Sometimes, when very sick, he would bless the 
Lord, that now fighting with a natural death, he 
had not an angry God to deal with. * Oh 1 ' says he, 
1 the sting of death is fully -gone, and death is mine ; 
' being reconciled to me as a sweet passage, through 

* him that loved me. 3 Another time, seeing the 
candle almost out, he said, ' My natural life is near 

* an end, like that candle, for want of nourishment 
4 or matter to entertain it ; but in this we shall 

* differ, that if it be let alone, that goes out with a 
4 stink, and I shall go out with a good savour, praises 
4 to my God for ever/ 



2i6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

A little before his breath ceased, he said he had 
been with his God, and had seen deep things; about 
which time he was filled with the power of God in 
a wonderful manner, which much affected those 
present, and in a little time after he died like a lamb, 
being the 6th day of the Fifth month, in the year 
1673, aged Fifty-nine years, and was buried in a 
piece of ground set a-part near his own house at 
King swell , the 8th of the same month. 



7V[ARY PADI.F.Y, wife of John EadJey, timber. 
a ^ merchant, of Olave's, Southwark, was a woman 
adorned \* ith truth and innocency, chaste, upright, 
and sincere hearted, industrious, yet void of covetoui- 
neSS, so that virtue shone forth in her conversation : 
she was also charitable to the poor, plain in apparel, 
adorning the truth in her conversation, punctual in 
performing her promise, and in the discharge of any 
trust reposed in her ; and she spent her days in the 
fear of God, so the Lord was gracious to her at her 
death. 

She was taken with pains of travail in child- 
bearing, the 6th of the Seventh month 169^, at 
which time she said, in much tenderness and fervency 
of spirit, ' My God, and my father, deliver me.' 
And after she was delivered, she praised God for his 
mercies towards her : and afterwards being asked by 
her husband how she did, (finding some unusual 
symptons attend her) she answered, * Weak, but 
* well satisfied.' And as a confirmation thereof, 
she broke forth into sweet praises to the Lord. And 
died, leaving behind her four young children, aged 
about Twenty-eight years. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 217 

/CHARLES MARSHALL, born at Bristol in the 
^ year 1637, was religiously educated by his 
parents in the Independent way. In his tender 
years he had inward desires after the knowledge of 
God. 

After he had continued some years amongst the 
Independents, and also the Baptists, he grew more- 
and more dissatisfied with the empty and lifeless 
profession of those amongst whom he walked. He 
spent much time in retirement alone in the fields, 
under a sense of his state and condition, crying unto 
the Lord, and seeking after his saving knowledge; 
in which state he continued, until it pleased God to 
send to that city his faithful servant John Audland, 
from out of the north of England, by whose 
powerful ministry he was turned to the light of 
Christ Jesus in his own heart, which had before 
discovered his state and condition unto him : and 
after he came to turn in his mind to the light of the 
Lord, and was thereby and therein resigned, he 
came to witness God's pure power, love and life, to 
break in upon him; and after manifold exercises 
and troubles, he was raised up a powerful minister 
of Christ Jesus, and an instrument in God's hand to 
turn many to righteousness. 

He was moved in the year 1670 to go through 
the nation of England, and visit God's heritage, 
which he did within the compass of one year; and 
although it was then a time of great persecution, yet 
in all his passage through cities, towns, and all the 
counties of the land, no man was suffered to lay 
hands on him, or stop his way. 

He continued a faithful minister, and laboured 
much in the gospel to the time of his sickness, 
which lasted several months ; in all which time, 
great patience and meekness appeared in him, al- 
though under great weakness and affliction of body. 
He had some sight and knowledge of his end ; fbi? 
Vol. I. K 



218 PIETY PROMOTED. 

a little before he was taken ill he earnestly pressed 
a particular friend of his to ride out of town with 
him, having something of moment to impart to him; 
and when they were a few miles from London, he 
said, amongst other things, that he was satisfied his 
departure drew near, and therefore had a desire to 
discourse with him about some particular things 
before lie died. And when he was taken ill he 
sent for the same friend, and told him now he was 
satisfied he should go abroad no more ; although in 
his first illness there was no such appearance to 
others, which the said friend told him ; but what- 
soever he said to take him oiT of such thoughts, it 
had no impression upon him ; he continued fixed in 
his mind, that he should die of that illness. Several 
of his friends pressed him to go into the country, 
but he desired only to go to John Padley's, a friend 
that dwelt near the river .side, which he much liked ; 
and at his first going thither he was a little better, 
but soon altered again. He lay ill there about three 
months, under great weakness ; and several friends 
often came to see him, and he would be frequently 
giving them seasonable counsel and advice, in many 
heavenly expressions, and would often exhort them 
to keep in love and unity, and to the living divine 
power and life of truth, that thereby they might be 
Kept a people fresh and green, and living to God ; 
that so formality might not prevail over them. And 
he pressed, that a great regard might be had of the 
rVoor, and that some way might be found out for 
their employment : often saying to this effect, that 
in an inexpressible manner he felt their sufferings, 
by reason of their poverty. Indeed he was a man 
that greatly sympathized with those who were 
afflicted either in body or mind, being of a very 
tender spirit. 

A little before his departure, he sending for 
John Padley and his wife intq his chamber, said tc 



PIETY PROMOTED, 219 

him, c Dear John, do what thou canst for the 
c honour of truth, and the Lord bless thee and thine 

* for generations to come.' And to his wife he 
said, that he desired the Lord might be with her 
when she came to such a time as that (he was then 
in, i. e. a death-bed) and make her passage easy \ 
and his desire was granted, for she died in less than 
a year after, and said on her dying-bed, that the 
Lord had answered dear Charles Marshall's request, 
for she lay very easy, and freely given up. As be- 
lay in this weak condition he was often opening his 
mind to divers of his friends •, particularly when, 
several ministering friends came to see him, he 
spoke to this effect : ' I have loved the brotherhood, 
' I have sought the unity and peace of the churches 
' for these forty years, and to my great comfort I 
' never did any thing tending to the breach thereof. 
c I have two things that lie upon me to friends, 

* which I desire may be communicated unto them.' 

The first is, ' That they gather down into the, 
c immortal seed and word of life in themselves, and 

< be exercised in it before the Lord, and duly prize 

* and set a value upon the many outward and inward 

* mercies, and blessings, and- heavenly visitations, 
( that the Lord had eminently bestowed upon them, 

* since the morning of the day of his blessed 
c visitation *, then shall they grow and be preserved 

< in a living freshness to him : and the Lord will 

* continue his mercies to them, and they shall not 

* want his divine refreshing presence in their meet- 
c ings together before him.' 

The second thing is, c That those friends, that 
' the Lord hath given great estates unto, ought to 
' cast their bread upon the waters, and do good 
' therewith in their life-time j for those that are 
c enjoyers of such things, should see that they are 

* good stewards thereof : Oh ! the many poor families 
1 that such persons might be a help to ! how easily 

& 2 



220 PIETY PROMOTED. 

( might they, with a little, assist many a family to 
1 live in the world ! and what a comfort would it 

* be for such to see the fruits of their charity in their 

* life-time.' 

When our friend George Whitehead came to see 
him, with much tenderness of spirit, he signified 
his great peace and satisfaction, and that he always, 
from the first, had an honourable esteem of the 
unity of his brethren. And a little before his 
departure) when our friend William Penn and 
divers others visited him, he lay as a man gathered 
up in his spirit unto Cod, and though he was almost 
spent, his voice being very low, hardly to be heard, 
yet by what was understood, it might be perceived 
that he had in possession the earnest of that blessed 
peace, which he was going to receive the fulness of: 
the observation of his peace, and happy condition, 
much affected those present. And so he departed like 
a child, in a quiet frame of spirit, the 15th of the 
Ninth month, in the year 1698, aged Sixty-one years, 
and was buried from Grace-church-street meeting- 
house, in friends' burial ground near Bunhill- fields, 
London. , 



O ARAH PADLEY, second wife of John Padley, 
^ aforesaid, of Olave's, South wark, was a woman 
of a meek and quiet spirit, and had great sympathy 
with those in affliction, and bore a public testimony 
or God in the assemblies of his people, and she 
*had an honourable esteem $£ the faithful elders in 
l he church. 

She was taken ill the 16th day of the Fifth month, 
1699, and was sensible her end was near, and on 
that account was concerned for her husband ; and 
the love of God, with which she was filled, caused 
her sweetly to praise his name, so that the sense of 
the pains and weakness of hex body seemed to^be 



PIETY PROMOTED. 221 

taken awny. One time, in the sense of the love of 
God to her soul, she cried out, " Oh ! death, where is 
8< thy sting ?' r Often praying and praising God ; and 
during the whole time of her sickness she was- 
freely given up to die. 

A few days before her departure- she said to her 
husband,. ' Thou art the dearest of any thing in the 
( world to me ; yet I can freely leave thee.' Another 
time she said to him, ' The Lord hath answered 
I dear Charles Marshall's prayer for me,' (remem- 
bering, that C. Marshall had desired upon his dying- 
bed, that she might have an easy passage when she 
came to such a time as he was in, who died at her 
house) c for/ said she, * I am very easy y and often 
said 3 that she was resigned to the will of God. 

A little before her deaths much through her 
husband's great affection to her, and his earnest 
desire of her life, she seemed a little to desire life, 
but presently checked herself for it, and returned 
to her former resignation of spirit *, and so lay 
supplicating and praising God, so that a neighbour 
present (not called a Quaker) said^ that she never 
saw any lie so sweetly in all her life. And seeing 
some about her weep, she said, c Do not cry for 
4 me, for I am. going to my; rest.' A friend said, 
c Art thou willing to leave thy husband. V she an- 
swered, * I have often. told him I. am willing to go 
* when the Lord pleaseth :' and in a little time after 
she said, 'In a few days, in a few days, they will say 
" Sarah Padley is dead :' and it much affected those 
about her to see how reconciled she was to death, 
speaking very pleasingly concerning it, and of the- 
felicity that would accrue to her thereby. So she 
finished her course on the 8th day of the Sixth 
month, in the year 1699, aged about Thirty-four 
years. 



.222 PIETY PROMOTED. , 

'\I HLLIAM GARTON, of Ifield, in the county 
of Sussex, was an early fruit to God, and a 
faithful believer in his blessed truth, and a servant 
in the church of Christ j he was zealous against 
all unrighteousness, and much for the unity of the 
spirit ill the bond of peace among brethren $ an 
elder indeed, watching for good over the flock, a 
thizer with the afflicted, and a mourner in the 
house of mourning, more in deed than in words > 
and though but a plain man, yet God endowed him 
a Large understanding and sound judgment, 
h lias been approved in difficult cases; he was 
iirm and constant in spirit in times of suffering ana* 
persecution, preferring the service of truth, and the 
testimony of it, before all worldly things. He was 
an example of virtue in the church, also in his 
family •, and his removal hence Was a great loss to 
both ; a true loving husband, and tender father. 
He had a great care that his children might be 
trained up in the fear of God, and knowledge of 
his blessed truth, which labour God was pleased to 
answer to his satisfaction. He would often say 
:he greatest portion he desired of the Lord for his 
children was the blessed truth, and that they might 
love, fear, and serve the Lord* and then he did not 
doubt that they would want any good thing ; and to 
that end he would often be giving them good 
counsel and admonition. 

Two days before his decease, being visited by a 
friend, he said that he had always endeavoured the 
prosperity of truth to the best of his understanding ; 
and that he had nothing of trouble upon him •, but 
did bless God that he had an opportunity to give 
this testimony to those present ; exhorting an ancient 
friend to keep lew in God's fear, and make 
strait steps, that he might lay down his grey hairs 
in peace. 

Another time, several friends coming from a- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 223 

meeting to visit him, he desired that his love might 
be remembered to all friends. 

Another time he said, ■ I have always sought the 
*■ peace of the church, according to my ability.' 

Being asked by a young man that watched with 
him how he did, he replied, ' I am the better to 

* see young men come up in the truth.' 

A friendly person coming to see him on his sick- 
bed, he put out his hand to him, saying, ' Ah ! thou 
' lackest something: these be serious times.' 

Two ministering friends visiting of him the day 
before he died, he seemed very much revived,, and 
said, ' I never did any thing against the truth 
I knowingly, since I was convinced/ 

One taking his leave of him, hoping for his 
recovery, he replied, i If it be the Lord's will, let 

* me go in peace:' he also said that he felt the 
Lord to come in upon his spirit. And near his end 
he prayed for his wife, and children, and grand- 
children, that God would make up the loss of him 
unto them. And further said, * Oh Lord, I pray 
4 thee, remember the ancients, that they made still 
' hold on their way ; and, oh ! my God, if it stand 
' with thy will, visit more and more those which 

* are not of thy fold, and bring them in by thine 

* arm, that they may come to know rest for their 
6 souls, that at the last we may be bound up 

* together in the bundle of life 5' and so concluded 
with hymns and praises unto God. 

Another time, after some friends had prayed by 
him, which was to his great satisfaction, and the 
room being clear of company, he said to his 
daughter who was standing by, ' Oh dear child, I 

* have known much of the goodness of the Lord 3 
i but not in such a large manner (before^ as now : 
c the very fountain is open, and the love of God is 
6 over all; praises, praises to the Lord.' He uttered 
many heavenly expressions, and gave good ex~ 

K4 



14 PIETY PROMOTED. 

hortation to those about him, which are not here 
inserted ; and a little time before he died he called 
tor his relations, and embraced his wife in his arms,, 
and took his lust leave of her, and of his son and 
daughter ; holding out his hand and taking leave of 
all friends who came to see him till his strength 
failed, and so sweetly died in the Lord, in an 
honourable good old age, the 8th day of the Seventh 
month, in the year 1701, being the Sixty-sixth year 
of his age. 



fWARLES ORMSTON, merchant at Kelso, in 
^ Scotland, was convinced of the blessed truth 
about the year 1665. He was a good example and 
pattern of godliness, which he shewed forth in the 
upright life and conversation he had amongst men, 
and bore a faithful testimony among the friends of 
that meeting to which he belonged, and at whose 
house the meeting was kept unto his dying day. 

H 8 was in the year 1668 cast into Edinburgh 
prison, upon the account of his owning those people 
called, in scorn, (Quakers : lie remained prisoner about 
twenty-two months ; and his wife, who was not at 
that time called a Quaker, having several times made 
application to the privy council for his release, did at 
length obtain an order for the same on the 20th of 
the Twelfth month, 1669. And after, friends settling 
their meeting at his house, the earl of Roxburgh,^ 
whose lodging was hard by, being angry that it 
should be so near his gates, caused the town militia 
to he raised, and by force hauled friends out of their 
meeting, and laid several of them up in prison,, 
amongst whom C* Oxrnston w-as one. His adversary 
at length perceiving that neither keeping them out 
of their meeting-room, nor yet locking up his doors, 
would hinder them to meet under the pillars of the 
house, gave over his persecution. 



PrETY PROMOTED. 22j 

This our friend fell sick about the latter end of the 
year 1684, and continued to grow weaker for about 
two months time ;- and having before put his outward 
affairs in order, and feeling himself very weak and 
nigh his end, upon the 21st. of the Twelfth month, 
1684, in the evening, he called for his two sons, (his 
daughters not professing truth) the elder whereof- 
same to him, whom he took by the hand, and ex- 
horted him to a faithful walking in the truth, as he- 
had formerly done, and instructed them in many: 
things : and about three quarters of an hour after he. 
fell asleep in the Lord, having left a good savour oft 
his upright life and conversation, behind him. 



JOHN ORMSTON, eldest son to tfce aforesaid" 
** Charles Orm- ton, was an example of sobriety and- 
Godliness, having from a child shunned evil ; and^ 
when he was mocked for refusing to bear company* 
with others in their vain • recreations, > he bore it pa- 
tiently, not reviling again. He was given to retire^ 
ment, and a careful instructor of his younger brother*. 
He was much troubled with bleeding, whieh brought 
him into a consumption, and he told them about him- 
he did believe he should die.-- A-nd, being near hi? 
endi he desired his farher to pray by him, which he 
did ; and about three or four days -before he died, ho 
enquired of his sisters the day of the month,, which 
being told him, he -answered, * The twenty-second- 
* shall be my day \ which proved true, for upon the 
22d of the Tenth month, in the year 1682, he de- 
parted this life, and is entered into that blessed rest 
prepared for the faithful. Aged Twenty years and 
four months. . 



ks: 



226 PIETY PROMOTED. 

nri-IOMAS ROBINSON, of Bridge-End, near 
■*■ Kelso, in Scotland, was convinced of the truth 
about the year 1669, in which he walked circum- 
spectly, in a good conversation, to his latter end, 
being a good example in the place where h? lived ; 
and often exhorted his friends- and brethren, in the 
meeting to which he belonged, to faithfulness. 

He was several times imprisoned about the years 
1672 and 1673 for meeting with the people called 
(Quakers to worship God; and after having lived tc 
a good old age, it pleased the Lord to visit him with 
sickness, which continued about twelve days, in which 
time he was kept in patience, and often signified that 
lie felt the love of the Lord to his soul -, and exhorted 
his neighbours and relations, who came to see him, 
to fear the Lord, and to turn to him while they had 
time , with many more seasonable expressions which 
he spoke, even when he was in great pain, which 
much affected the standers by ; to whom he said, 

* Let patience have its perfect work :' he also signified 
that being walking one evening by himself, (as his 
manner was) he prayed fervently to the Lord, that he 
might have a seal of his assurance before his depar- 
ture -, and immediately he was filled with great joy. 
and the word of the Lord came to him, saying, " Is 
" not my grace sufficient for thee ? That is done 
,e already : thy peace is made." 

A little before he departed some of his children 
with others, being present,, and he being about to 
take his last leave of them, said, ' Humble your hearts 

* before the Lord, and make use of your time, and 

* slip no opportunity of making your peace with God/ 
And at last recommending his spirit into the hands 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, he sweetly laid down his 
head in peace upon the 28th of the Ninth month, 
in the year 1698, being about the Seventy-third year 
of his age. 



"PIETY PROMOTED. 227 

HTHOMAS ROBINSON, son of the before men- 
** tioned Thomas Robinson, was convinced of the 
truth about three years v before his parents, when he 
was about thirteen years of age, and but few friends 
in those parts*, and he was so effectually converted, 
that although many endeavours were used, both by 
promises and threatenings, they were not able to 
overturn his faith. 

He was a youth of a sober and religious conversa- 
tion, insomuch that he was a wonder to many ; and 
by his faithfulness to the truth, (though a child) he 
was very instrumental to the convincement of his 
parents, who afterwards lived and died in the same 
faith : and many disputes he had with priests and 
others, and was so furnished with arguments, that 
they were often astonished at him. 

About the Twentieth year of his age, God was 
pleased to call him to the work of the ministry ; at 
which time he was concerned to go to public p faces 
of worship, and bear testimony to the people against 
their evil deeds. His ministry was living, and he ' 
had a clear discerning of the spirit of antichrist, that 
secretly worked for the hurt of God's heritage, which 
he advised friends to watch against. 

He travelled through the northern counties of 
England, and also visited all the meetings of friends 
in his own nation, and had several sights of things 
to come, some of which he saw came to pass ; and 
also had a vision of his own death two years before 
he died : and at last he was visited with sickness, 
which continued about seventeen weeks, and in all 
that time-he was not heard to repine, or speak fro- 
v/ardly, though his sickness was attended with much 
exercise ; but many times he sung praises to the 
Lord, to the affecting of others who heard him 5 and 
declared that he valued not the pains and trouble 
of his body if it was the Lord's will so to try him r, 
but that the Lord's everlasting truth might be raised 
K6 



228 PIETY PROMOTED. 

over all ; and all lets and hindrances be taken ouir 
of the way, and he to feel preservation in the truth, 
to the end of his days. With many more good 
expressions. 

The night before he died, he entreated his parents 
not to repine at the Lords doing, saying it was his 
w.ili to remove him from the evil to come. After 
a little silence his father asked him if he had any. 
thing more upon his mind to say, he answered, 

* Little more, but that all might be kept faithful who 

• profess the truth, the precious truth. ' And farther 
said, J Let me rest, I have done, I have done;' and 
fell asleep* and slept till about break of day, and then 
departed this life on the 2d of the Eighth month, 
in the year 16^8, about the Twenty-third year of 
his age. 



CTEPHEN SMITH was born the 19th of the 
^ Seventh month, 1623. He received the truth 
in the love of it in the year 1665, and gave up to 
obey and walk therein ; and he truly loved God's 
faithful messengers and people, how despised and 
suffering soever they were ; and he suffered with 
them y both in person and estate, by imprisonment 
and spoil of goods, for his tender conscience and 
testimony on behalf of Chrisf Jesus. 

He was a man fearing. God, and of good report 
in that county, being an exemplary preacher of 
righteousness in his conversation, and one truly kind 
and ready to do good in his day ; so God also endued 
him with a living ministry, and experimental testir 
mony to tell of his goodness, and speak of his praise 
to others, from an inward sense thereof in- himself, 
and to the comfort and encouragement of many who. 
heard him. He travelled in divers parts of, the 
nation, in the work and service of God, in the gospel 
of his Son. 



FIETY PROMOTED. 229 

In the time of his sickness, when he was in greatest 
extremity of weakness, he often declared of the loving 
kindness of the Lord God, by which he was upheld 
above the fear of death. 

To several who came to visit him on his sick-bed 
he said it was a blessed and heavenly thing to ha¥S 
the mind clear and holy, free from all troubles and. 
cumbers of this world, (as he said his- mind was) 
having all given; up to the will of the Lord, that 
it might be truly done on earth, as it is in heaven - T 
adding, * O what a blessed, and heavenly habitation 
' is this for the soul of man to rest in, which I have 
-' a full assurance of ! ' At another time,- one wh© 
came to see him,, he exhorted to dread and fear the 
Lord God^and to repent of all, whatsoever that holy 
and pure witness- in his conscience makes manifest 
to be evil ; so if hapily he might find mercy with 
the Lord:; which will be better to thee, (said he) than 
all the world besides. A little after came into the 
chamber another person, and the power of the Lord 
being with him, he was refreshed in his spirit, and 
he desired the said person (who was a woman) to 
fear the Lord, that thereby, she might be preserved 
out of all evil; and added, love- the truth above all, 
for the truth is a very precious thing ;. and be sure 
keep low and humble to it,, and be not high-minded 
nor exalted above the pure witness of God in thy 
conscience, for that would be hurtful. 

Another time, in remembrance of the tender 
^dealings of the Lord to him, he said to his sons 
who were present, l My days are very near drawing 
' to an end; and though my, father and mother. cast 
f me off when I was a little lad, the Lord hath 
' always preserved me, and. his- blessings -did always 
'attend me, having been often in many great dan- 

* gers, both by sea and land: so having my mind 
4 sober and chaste-- to God, and haying the fear, of 

* the Lcrd: placed in my heart, by which I was pre- 



2 3 o PIETY PROMOTED. 

f served out of evil, I did the thing that was right in 

* the sight of the Lord, so that I found favour of the 
4 Lord, and gained the love and favour of people, in 

* dealing justly and truly with all people, not wrong- 

* ing any man:' and this lie gave in charge to his 
sons, that they might always be kept sober and chaste 
in their minds, having always regard to the fear of 
the Lord placed in their hearts, that thereby they 
might be preserved out of evil, and doing always 
that which is just and right; and to be sure to be 
courteous and kind to all, loving the good in all, 
and bearing their testimony against the evil in all, 
wheresoever it did appear. AnJ farther said, * And 
' whensoever yon go about that which is weighty, 
' take counsel of good and sound friends, so that all 
1 things may be dune to the glory and honour of the 

* Lord v.nd his blessed truth, in which your blessings ' 

* are all yea and amen.' And moreover advised his 
sons, saying, ' Do not run into the cumbers of the 
c world, but wait upon the Lord, and he will find 
' out a way for you in Ins time ; for the Lord is 
fc calling, and taking me out and from all troubles 
' and cumbers, and from the evil that is coming 
6 upon this wicked world, in a good time, wherein 

* I am as:ured of that sound and perfect peace, 
c wherein my soul will rest with the Lord for ever-, 

* so that I have no more to do now, but desire the 
' Lord to make my passage easy to my heavenly 
< rest/ 

A little before his departure, being filled with the 
spirit, he praised and magnified God, and prayed, 
saying, 4 Lord, and dearest God, Oh ! assist in this 
( heavenly passage from death to life;' and soon 
after said, ' Now I am going into my sweet sleep-, ' 
and immediately and innocently laid down his head in 
perfect peace with the Lord, the 2 2d of the Seventh 
month, in the year 1678, at his house, near Guild- 
ford, in Surry, aged Fifty-five years and three days. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 231 

XyiLLIAM ALLEN, of Earls Co wen, in the 
* * county of Essex, received the blessed truth in 
the year 1654, and the power of the Lord made a 
speedy change in hini ; for soon after he had a dis- 
pensation of the gospel of Christ Jesus given to Lim 
from God, and he was stirred up with zeal in his 
soul against the false ways, worships* superstitions 
and profaneness of those times ; which seal for God 
produced living testimonies from him. in divers 
towns and places where he travelled,, against those 
things which were evil, which sometimes occasioned 
him to come under hard sufferings, bonds and im- 
prisonments, in which he behaved himself as a faith- 
ful and courageous soldier of Christ Jesus, and a 
good example to his fellow sufferers preaching the 
gospel of peace, both in life and doctrine, and 
stopped the mouths of gainsayers ; which had a 
sweet and comfortable effect upon many, who were 
reached in their consciences by his testimony and 
ministry, and by his innocent conversation f so that 
they embraced the truth he preached and suffered 
for, and' became heirs of the salvation of God, to 
their everlasting comfort, and the furtherance of the 
gospel. 

He was of severe carriage to such as made pro- 
fession of truth, and walked not with a strait foot-in 
the gospel j but he was very tender over all such as 
were young, and under exercise about their inward 
condition, and sometimes spoke effectually to their 
conditions, to the easing of their afflicted spirits. 

He was an example in the county where he livedo 
encouraging friends to observe the good order of 
the truth, and to keep the gospel void of offence, 
not exalting himself above his brethren, but carried 
a good respect to them 5 and to their counsel and 
judgment. 

He served the Lord Jesus Christ, and his church 
and people, without weariness to the end of his 



2 3 2 PIETY PROMOTED. 

days *, and would lament those who sate themselves 
down at ease, and would often say that a tenible 
day would overtake them who were at ease in Zion* 
And in the time of his health* when he was ?ble to 
go abroad and visit friends, he would say, .* God hath 

* made me a huntsman, and I must visit many of 

* them who are in their holes and caves; I must be 

* clear of their blocd :' and would relate of the sore 
travails and pangs that he had for some, which 
often made his soul very 1 sorrowful. 

His labours in the gospel were chiefly in the 
counties of Noifolk, Suffolk, Cambridge) and Essex ' y 
and for his testimony to the truth he was imprisoned 
in Colchester castle, where he was mstrumencal to. 
pjain divers to the truth. Hi was also imprisoned .it 
Cambridge, and at Ely, and Lynn in Norfolk, and 
many were tur-u d to God by his ministry. 

He was a di igent labourer in the Lord's vineyard 
for about twenty-four years, and the last year and 
half of kis tin he was much afflicted with bod ly 
Weakness and ic ness ; but he would often say- 
that he was content with the will of his Father. In 
the time of his sickness he shewed the meekness and 
patience of Chri.it which dwelt in him ; but the 
Lord* in due time, seeing his exercise to be enough, . 
put a period to his days: he w-as filled with the 
peace of God to the last,, so that he said he could 
shout for joy, but that he wanted strength of body ; 
and which, he said 3 was but an earnest of what he 
should more fu;.y enjoy when his earthly tabernacle 
was dissolved. He spoke largely of the enjoyment 
of the glory of God in his soul, and of the assurance 
he had Of eternal life: some of his expressions, in 
his sickness, were as follow. 

' The earth is filled with the glory of the Lord.: 
i praises, praises unto my God, who reigns over all,. 

* over ail ': he hath redeemed -my soul from the 

' grave^.and^roy life from the horrible pit : he ha-tit . 



PIETY PROMOTED. 233 

' plucked my feet out of the mire and clay ; glory, 
% glory be given unto thy great name. Oh ! my 

* good God, as for my part I have fought the good 
4 fight, and have kept the faith •, and a large share 

* of the glory of my God is sealed in my soul ; it is 
c but an earnest that I have here of that crown of 
c life and glory which my Father hath in store for 
4 me.' 

And, concerning his sickness, he said, * It hath 
c pleased the Lord to exercise me as he did Joh for 
€ the trial of my faith and patience : I have trodden 

* his steps these twelve months r a full reward thou 
' hast given me of life and glory. Oh ! my good 
' God, how good art thou to me ? I have received 

* abundance of good at thy handy and shall not I 
6 receive a little evil ? blessed be thy name for thy 

* goodness : my cup overflows, I cannot utter it 5* 
and so continued, often speaking of the glory of the 
Lord, and the immortality that rested- upon him %. 
and charged friends to be faithful, that the dread of 
God might always rest upon their hearts, that they* 
might answer his love, in yielding obedience to his 
requirings ; and then, if they did meet with exercises 
for the trial of their faith, yet the Lord would, be 
with them if they abode faithful to the end j and the 
same crown of life they should enjoy, which he had 
an assurance of. 

6 Therefore, 5 said he,. S watch, and keep your gar- 
( ments, and oil in your vessels, that you may be 

* ready to enter with the bridegroom ; but as for 
1 those that shall continue in hypocrisy and disobe- 

* dience,. and shun the cross of Christ, and neglect 
c to work while it is day, the night will come upon 

* such unawares, and the foolish virgins state they 
( will be found in ; and though they may desire oil 
1 of the wise, the wise will have none to spare •, but 
1 the door will be shut upon such, and misery will 

* ke their portion. 5 He also gave good counsel to 



234 PIETY PROMOTED. 

his two daughters, saying there was a blessing for 
them, for their father's sake, if they would bow to 
truth, and abide faithful therein. 

He longed to haste away ', but was also willing 
to wait God's pleasure. 

More was spoken by him, as friends came to visit 
him, and as his strength would permit, which was 
not taken in writing. 

After his speech grew low he could not well be 
heard, and seemed for some hours as if he was de- 
parting j at last he said to a friend, « I was almost 
' gone, but I cannot go yet ; there is some secret 
' counsel of God in it.' After some little time, 
more friends coming in, he was, beyond outward 
likelihood, enabled to declare much to them, exhort- 
ing them to faithfulness, and said, ■ I am glad to see 

* my friends about me : I go to my God and your 
i God, my Father and your Father; my bosom is 
' full of love to all my Father's children ;' and then 
said, ' Now, Lord Jesus, how acceptable is it to 

* leave all the world, and be gathered up to thee:' 
and so, committing his spirit to the Lord, soon fell 
asleep. 

His end was honourable, and he is crowned with 
immortality and eternal life, and left the world in a 
good age, having attained to about Sixty-three years : 
he died the 2ist. of the Eleventh month, in the year 
1679, at Earls Cowen, in the county of Essex. 



TyiLLIAM SIMPSON, born in Lancashire, 
* ' where he also received the truth, was a faith- 
ful minister and prophet of the Lord, and was much 
concerned in going through markets and towns, and 
x to great men and magistrates, and priests' houses, 
and public places of worship, declaring against 
their false worship, and evil ways and works : and 



PIETY PROMOTED. 235 

was often imprisoned for the truth, and underwent 
cruel and hard sufferings by the jailers. He was 
moved of the Lord to go at several times, for the 
space of three years, naked and barefooted through 
markets, courts, cities, and towns, and to priests' 
houses, as a sign to the people, telling them so* 
should they be stripped naked, as he was naked. 
And sometimes he was moved to put 011 hair sack- 
cloth, and to besmear his face black, and to tell 
them, so would the Lord besmear all their religion, 
as he was besmeared. Great sufferings did this poor 
man undergo \ many sad blows, and sore whippings, 
with staves, and wands, and thorn-bushes, coach- 
whips, and horse-whips, on his bare body. This 
was before king Charles the Second came in ; that 
that generation might have taken warning, and they 
would not, but rewarded his love with cruel usage : 
only the mayor of Cambridge did nobly to him, for 
he put his gown about him (being naked) and took 
him into his house. 

In the year 1670 he went to Barbadoes, in company 
with that faithful servant of God, John Burnyeat, 
to preach the gospel of Christ Jesus in that island \ 
and after they had some service for God there, he 
was taken sick of a fever, in which time he felt 
great peace and consolation of the spirit. After he 
had been sick several days he signified to friends 
about him that he should die. In the observation 
of his submission and innocent behaviour on his sick 
bed, some shed tears, and he taking notice of it, 
tenderly desired that they should not be. grieved. 
Growing weaker, and his voice low, he said to those 
about him, ' Friends, be noble, and do not hinder 
* me in my passage, for I am an innocent man * — 
And being asked whither he would go, he said, * X 
4 must pass away: 5 and by what more was said at- 
that time friends were assured that his heart was 
wholly fixed upon the Lord, 



236 



PIETY PROMOTED. 



A few hours before he died, a person came to 
visit him who had not been (though invited) at any* 
meeting William had been at in that Island, and 
taking Lim by the hand asked him how he did, he 
answered, { I am a very sick man ;' and locking 
towards the man, he was endowed with the power 
and spirit of the Lord, by which he marvellously- 
preached the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, for about a quarter of an hour, praising and 
magnifying the Lord ; which was so contrary to the 
expectations of those about him (considering the cir- 
cumstances of his weak condition) that it caused 
amazement, trembling, and toars. He preached the 
doctrine of perfection, and freedom from sin on this 
side the grave, exhorting friends to be valiant for 
truth upon earth ; and that they should not be again 
entangled with the yoke of bondage ; but to stand 
fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made them 
free *, that every bond and yoke might be broken, 
that that which is pure of the Lo?d God might go- 
free in all ; that God might be glorified and ho- 
noured, and they preserved in the day of trial, which 
must come upon all flesh ; and so to grow from 
grace to grace, and from strength to strength, and 
from one degree of holiness unto another^ and that 
a daily growth might be witnessed in all. — Farthej 
saying, • O friends ! it is the life that the Lord looks 

■ at ; for he that hath the Son hath life ; and he that 
c hath not the Son hath not life ; examine your- 

* selves •, no Son, no life ' r without the Son, without 
' life :' and thus he declared wonderfully, often 
praising and glorifying God after this manner ; — - 

■ Oh ! all that h within me praise and magnify the 
' Lord God, who is worthy for ever and ever of ail 

* glory 5 and everlasting praises to the God of my 
'- life, who is only worthy, and lives over all, and 
^is above all, God blessed for ever. Amen.' 

About three hours after he had given this testis 



PIETY PROMOTED. 237 

mony he departed this life in much quietness, being 
the 8th day of the Twelfth month, in the year 1670, 
and was honourably buried in a garden belonging to 
Richard Forstal, at Bridge-town, in Barbadoes. 



JOSEPH CO ALE, of Reading, in the county of 
** Berks, a young man about Nineteen years of age, 
was convinced of truth in the breaking forth of 
God's blessed day in our age. When the ministers 
of Christ Jesus our Lord came to Reading, he was 
one of the first that received their testimony* and 
was one of the first in the county of Berks that suf- 
fered imprisonment on the truth's account. In the 
year 1655 he was committed to the counter in Read- 
ing, by Henry Frewin, justice, and afterwards to the 
gaol, for declaring in the public piace of worship, 
that Cain's sacrifice was not accepted, but was an 
abomination to the Lord. 

He preached the everlasting gospel, and the day 
of God's visitation to the world, and his ministry 
was effectual, not only for the convincement but 
also for the establishment and confirmation of many, 
Jie being experienced in the works and dealings of 
the Lord God, and also of the wiles and baits of the 
enemy of the souls of mankind ; a faithful witness- 
bearer to the truth, not in words only but in life 
and conversation also; walking in innocency and 
lowliness of mind, in which he was a good example 
and pattern, as became the gospel of Christ Jesus. 

Beirjg delivered out of prison he was moved (in 
the year 1656) to travel abroad in the west of Eng- 
landj to visit his friends and brethren who were 
prisoners for the truth in Launceston jail in Corn- 
wall, where, at that time, our dear friend George 
Fox was also a prisoner, with other friends ; and in 
compassion to their sufferings he was conscientiously 



238 PIETY PROMOTED. 

-concerned to lay before justice Anthony Nicols the 
cruelty of the jailer towards his friends, carrying 
also with him a letter from George Fox to the said 
justice; who, instead of relieving the oppressed, 
committed the said Joseph Coale to the rest of his 
friends at Launceston as a vagrant; and he lay there 
many months (after he was fined at the assize' for 
the most part in a wretched place called Doomsdale, 
a place where they used to put witches and mur- 
derers, after they were condemned to die; it was so 
me that it was observed few that went in ever 
came out in health ; and the excrements of the pri- 
soners, that from time to time had been put there, 
had not been carried out (as the people said) for 
many years; so that it was like mire, and in some 
places to the top of the shoes in water, &c. and 
the jailer would not let friends clean it, neither 
would he let them have beds or straw to lie on. 
Being released he went on farther westward to visit 
friends, but was committed by justice Ceely again 
to Launceston jail as a wanderer, where he lay three 
months. 

In the year 1657 he being with other friends met 
to worship God near Penryn, in Cornwall, captain 
Fox, governor of Pendennis-Castle, with a troop of 
horse, came and abused friends in a wicked manner, 
and Joseph was much beaten, and some of his blood 
shed, to the hazard of his life. 

He was also afterwards, for declaring truth in the 
public places of worship at Exeter, fell upon by the 
rude people, and haled by the hair of the head, and 
had to the town-hall, and from thence to jail, (a very 
filthy place) and they put a great pair of double irons 
upon one of his legs, and ordered the jailer not to 
let him have any bed nor straw to lie upon ; but the 
next week he was set at liberty. 

In the same year he was committed to Dorchester 
jail for exhorting people to repentance in the mar- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 239 

ket-place at Lyme, and for declaring truth in the 
steeple-house at Bridport. 

In 1 66 1 he was again imprisoned at Exeter for 
not swearing, being taken from a peaceable meeting 
and tendered the bath. And many other times he 
hazarded his life for the testimony of the blessed 
truth, in stocks, and stonings, and divers other hard- 
ships and difficulties. 

He was once in Ireland with Edward Burrough, in 
the service of the gospel. 

And last of all he was committed to the jail of 
Reading on the 13th of the Fifth month, 1664, by 
William Armourer, a justice of the peace, because, 
for conscience-sake towards the Lord, he could not 
break his command, who had said, ." Swear not at 
" all." And after six years being shut up in prison, 
and much deprived of common air to breathe in, he 
was much impaired in his health. In the time of his 
sickness he gave forth many heavenly exhortations to 
friends who came to visit him ; and this was his 
faith, which he declared on his dying-bed, saying, 
that the light of that glorious everlasting day of the 
Lord, which is broken forth in this our day, shall 
never be extinguished, notwithstanding all that men 
can do : c And though," said he, * it may be in the 
f hearts of men to destroy and root out, if it were 

* possible, the righteous from off the earth, yet the 
c Lord doth not intend so, neither is it in his heart 

* to suffer it so to be, but to exalt his own name and 
c kingdom over all •, and the wrath of man shall turn 

* to the glory of God, and the rest he will restrain. 5 

Death was made easy to him ; and near his de- 
parture he bid one of his fellow-prisoners farewell ; 
and resigned up to him that office of love and care 
which he exercised amongst his brethren and sisters, 
in bonds for the truth's sake \ and being filled with 
jieavenly love and life, and fully satisfied, he laid 
■down his head in peace, and full assurance of ever- 



24* PIETY PROMOTED^. 

lasting rest and joy in the Lord. Aged about Thirty- 
four vears. 



V\ T ILLIAM SMITH, born at Besthorp, in Not- 
* tinghamshire, formerly a pastor of an Inde- 
pendent congregation, and lived after the strictest 
manner of that people, was convinced of God's ever- 
Lasting truth about the year 1658. He was a faithful 
labourer in the gospel, and many were turned unto 
God by his ministry ; for he approved himself a 
minister of Christ Jesus, in tumults, in labours, in 
travails, in watchings, in necessities and distresses, 
which came upon him through the often spoiling of 
his goods, ami long ami tedious imprisonments of 
his body. And, for refusing to pay tithes to an im- 
propriator, he was kept close prisoner one time 
twenty-one weeks among felons, in a dungeon in 
Nottingham jail : and another time he had the value „ 
of forty-two pounds taken from him at the same 
time he was in prison for seven pounds, demanded 
by Dove Williamson, priest of Elton. 

Indeed many were his sufferings for his testimony 
to the truth, which for brevity sake are omitted; all 
which he patiently endured, as seeing him who is 
invisible, that he might hold fast faith and a good 
conscience. 

In the times of his imprisonment he writ several 
useful bocks, which remain in the printed collection 
of his writings. And when he was at liberty he 
travelled abroad to the nourishing and strengthening 
of them who did believe. And though he was often 
visited by sickness he was kept in much patience 
and contentment; and much of the power and pre- 
sence of God appeared in him many times,, when he 
was in great weakness of body, to the admiration of 
the beholders. 

In his last sickness he was a great comfort t© 



PIETY PROMOTED. 241 

them who visited him, being a living man in the life 
of truth. After he had been ill seven weeks, his 
pains began to cease, yet he continued in weakness ; 
but other distempers came upon him, which he bore 
with great patience 5 waiting quietly, and having his 
mind retired, he spoke little till one evening, when 
many friends being in the room sitting in silence, 
and he in his bed, he turned towards them, and plen- 
tifully declared of the great love of God : and friends 
were much refreshed and tendered. He also testified 
of a large portion which he had in life eternal. And 
then he spoke to friends to be mindful of truth, and 
of their service therein, more than of their daily 
food; and so committed them to the grace of God. 

The day before he was taken away he called for 
ail his children, (which were six or seven) and ten- 
derly exhorted them to keep in the fear of God, 
and to love the truth, and God would be a father 
and portion to them ; and the next day he departed 
this life, being the 9th of the Eleventh month, in the 
year 1672. 



TOHN STEEL, of Cumberland, was brought to 
** the knowledge of the truth in the year 1654, and 
was obedient thereunto, and the Lord gave him a 
public testimony to bear not long after he was con- 
vinced, which continued with him to the end of his 
days. 

He was a man of an excellent spirit, and clear in 
discerning the states and conditions of many, unto 
whom he was- made very serviceable by good coun- 
sel, wholesome advice and instruction. His manner 
in public testimony was to deliver himself in few 
words, and not often, yet very weighty and pro- 
found. He was severe against deceit and wrong 
spirits, but very willing always to encourage the well- 

Vol. I. L 



242 PIETY PROMOTED. 

doers; a good example in conversation in his family, 
and abroad amongst men, as well as in the church. 

When he was first taken sick he said to his wife, 
c I must leave thee:' she replied, ' My dear, why art 

* thou of that belief? ' He answered, * It is my be- 
1 lief, and that I shall be well, and get to the place 
1 of pleasantness that I have been travelling for above 
' these twenty years,' exhorting her to take heed to 
the pure light wherewith she was enlightened, * for,' 
said he, * it is the way, and there is not another.' 
He bore a living testimony on his dying-bed, in the 
name and power of the Lord, to several who came 
to visit him, both friends and other people, exhort- 
ing, warning, and reproving, as he was moved of the 
Lord. 

The day before he died, several friends being 
come to see him, he bid them sit down and mind 
well what he said ; and he uttered many very weighty 
sayings, which were not written down •, but this was 
remembered, that he said * None could die the death 

* of the righteous but they that lived the life of the 
4 righteous : and though death may seem hard to 
4 some, it doth not scern hard to me ; for I feel my 
' passage sweetened this day.' And exhorting friends 
to keep the unity, and beware of a wrong spirit. 
And then said, * I have little more to friends, but it 
4 may be I have something to say to others.' 

And after a little time he desired several of his 
neighbours, who were not called Quakers, to be sent 
for, and most of them being come, the power of the 
Lord came upon him, and he said, c I am not 
*• ashamed this day to say the spirit of the Lord is 
' upon me ;' and so declared to them several weighty 
things ; and said, * Though some of you have been 
1 long in a profession of religion, if the question were 
c put to you, What is the guide of your minds ? I 
4 believe you will be put to a stand for an answer :' 
and some of their hearfcs were so- reached that they 



PIETY PROMOTED. 243 

wept. A few hours before he died he uttered many 
heavenly expressions in prayer to the Lord, to the 
great refreshment of the standers by. Thus the 
Lord, who alone is worthy of praise, accompanied 
him by his power to the last. 

He was convinced of truth in the year 1654, and 
died in Cumberland in 1680. 



HPHOMAS LLOYD formerly dwelt at a place 
- called Macemore, in Montgomeryshire in Wales, 
and in his young days was brought up at the univer- 
sity of Cambridge, and afterwards removed with his 
family into Pennsylvania, where he was president and 
deputy-governor of that province se\ r eral years ; and 
in the last part of his time he had his share with 
other friends in the exercises occasioned through 
the contention of George Keith with friends in that 
country. 

Being taken sick, and near his end, he said to 
friends about him, c Friends, I love you all ; I am 
1 &'°i n g from you, and I die in unity and love with 
6 all faithful friends ; I have fought a good fight, I 
c have kept the faith, which stands not in the wisdom 

* of words, but in the power of God : I have fought, 

* not for contention and strife, but for the grace of 
c our Lord Jesus Christ, and the simplicity of the 

* gospel : I lay down my head in peace, and desire 
c you may all do so: friends, farewell all.' 

He farther said to Griffith Owen, a friend who 
was then intending for England, f I desire thee to 
' mind my love to friends in Old England, if thou 

* livest to go over to see them : I have lived in -unity 
c with them, and do end my days in unity with them, 

* and desire the Lord to keep them faithful unto the 
' end, in the simplicity of the gospel : and after a 
few days sickness, he departed this life on the 14th 

L2 



2.14 PIETY PROMOTED. 

of the Seventh month, in the year 1694, aged about 
Forty-five years, leaving six children behind him, 
and was buried in friends' burial ground in Philadel- 
phia in Pennsylvania. 



T7LIZABETH MOSS, daughter of Thomas Monk 
of South Liverton Hall in Nottinghamshire., 
(whose mother afterwards married Samuel Watson 
of Knight Stainforth in the county of York) and late 
wife of Thomas Muss, merchant in London, was 
educated under a tender, zealous, and religious 
mother, who brought her up in the nurture and 
admonition of the Lord ; and she was a dutiful and 
obedient child. When she grew up, and came to 
receive the truth, she gave u\^ to it, and continued 
faithful therein to the end. She was exemplary in 
her family, and to instruct her 

nts, that she might bring them to a sense of 
their dangerous condition without a Saviour. She 
1 great luver of retirement, and much given to 
prayer, contemplation, reading of the holy scriptures, 
and spent much of her time alone in her chamber; 
so that frequently, when her husband returned 
home from his affairs abroad, he found her weeping; 
upon which he has sometimes said to her, f If some 
4 persons saw thee at those times, they might think 

* thou was under discontent:' her answer was, 

* No, my dear, there is nothing at all of that; but 
' the Lord's power and presence hath broken my 

* heart and tendered my spirit, in a living sense of 

* his goodness and tender dealings towards me: I 
i can say he is truly good to my soul, and I have 
'.tasted of the incomes of his heavenly love and life : 

* and I heartily wish that all who make profession 
1 of the blessed truth, were enjeyers with me, for 
< my soul has. been overcome with his love; and 
( although I have lost all my children, and many of 



PIETY PROMOTED. 245 

c my near relations, yet is the Lord pleased to 

* sweeten all my afflictions, and make hard things 
' easy tome.' 

She was indisposed some time before she kept her 
chamber, and her sickness increasing upon her she 
was advised to remove out of the city, for the 
recovery of her health, which she did, and was 
some time at Shacklewell 5 but notwithstanding, she 
grew worse, and being sensible that her end drew 
near, she sent for Samuel Waldenfield, George 
Whitehead, and some other friends, that she might 
see them before she died ; and the day before she 
died, Samuel Waldenfield and John Field coming 
to visit her, she was much revived, and spoke to 
this purpose as followeth, directing her speech to 
Samuel Waldenfield. 

* I had a desire to see thee and to invite thee to 

* my burial (she having sent for him the day before) 

* but I hope (said she to John Field), thou wilt not 

* take it amiss that I spoke first to Samuel, for I did 

* not know of thy coming, thy visit being altogether 
1 free •, I kindly accept of it as freely, and desire 
■< thee also to be at my burial : and though I did not 

' know that I should have seen the light of another 

* day, yet the Lord having spared me, I am glad to 
1 see your faces, that I may tell you how good and 
c gracious the Lord hath been to my soul ; for I can 

* truly say, I have sought him with many tears in 
f my secret chamber, and poured out my soul unto 
' him, (and said), O Lord, do thou come down and 
' tabernacle in me, and take up thy abode with me. 
€ For I testify Jacob's seed hath wrestled with God 

* for a blessing, and hath prevailed; and now he is 
1 become my portion, and the lot of my inheritance 

* for ever : he hath poured of the oil of joy into my 
' sorrowful soul, and hath fed me with the finest of 

* the wheat, and with honey out of the rock hath he 
' sustained me, and the sting of death is taken 

L3 



246 PIETY PROMOTED. 

4 away •, I say, my clear friends, I have not the 

* work to do now, I bless my God for it, but am 

* ready to be dissolved ; and I do freely resign up 

* my life to my God. I remember my dear and 

* tender mother, who was a woman that truly feared 

* him, and her prayers and petitions were often put 
4 up to the Lord, on the behalf of her off-spring; 

* and we have reaped much benefit thereby : and I 

* have blessed the Lord many a time that ever I was 
' born of her; I <pcak not rhese things boastingly : 
4 no, for what am I but a poor lump of clay ? but 
4 only to extol the powerful name and goodness of 

* my God, who hath been so bountiful and gra- 

■ cious to me, for there is forgiveness and mercy 
1 with him, that he may be feared : therefore be 
1 encouraged to keep faithful to the Lord, all that 

■ are within the hearing of my voice, both husband, 
' friends, and servants; I exhort you all, do justly, 
4 love mercy, and walk humbly with your God, 

* that so it may be said unto us all, Come ye blessed 

* of my Father ; which is what my soul hath desired, 

* and that I might never hear that dreadful sound, 
' Go, ye cursed ; and the Lord hath answered my 
' desire this day, and hath loosed my tongue, that 
4 was ready to cleave to the roof of my mouth, and 

* hath strengthened me to praise his great and 
' honourable name : oh ! praise the Lord with me, 

* my friends, and pray for me, (as I shall do for 
' you whilst I have breath) that I may be preserved 

* and kept in patience to the end ; for it is they that 
< hold out to the end that shall be saved. And 

■ though I have a dear and tender husband, and 
'want for nothing that is convenient for me, yet 

* I can freely part with all : and I hope the Lord 

* will preserve him near to himself to the end of 
' his days.' 

Cornelius Mason coming in she said, ' Neighbour 

* Mason, remember my dear love to thy wife and 

* clear children ; she hath 'been kind in visiting me 3 



PIETY PROMOTED. 247 

* and we have lived in much love and friendship 

* together ; and I truly desire the Lord may keep 
' you faithfur to himself to the end of your days*; 
1 and now I am comforted, and can say, Lord, 

* here I am before thee,- do with me as it seemeth 

* good in thy sight.' 

This is the substance of but part of what she said, 
for she continued a considerable time speaking of 
the mercies and dealings of God to her soul, and 
praising him for the same, to the comfort of those 
present : after which Samuel Waldenfield spoke a 
few words, and returned praise and thanksgiving to 
the Lord for his endless love and tender mercies to 
his servants and people : during which she was 
filled with heavenly joy, and spoke some words 
afterwards, desiring her dear love might be remem- 
bered to all faithful friends, with whom, she said, 
she was in perfect unity ; and so parted with them 
in much sweetness, love and satisfaction. 

Soon after came our friend George Whitehead, 
whom she had desired to see, and she was refreshed 
and comforted to see him ; and she said, { Dear 

* George, I am glad to see thee, having always had 

* much love and respect for thee, thou having been 
' at my father's house, and knew my mother well j 

* and now, though I am weak of body, yet the 
' Lord hath comforted me with his living presence, 

* and death is no terror to me; but I am freely 

* resigned and given up into the hand of my God,' 
with much more to the same effect j but she being 
much spent with the other friends, could. not raise 
her voice as she did before •, but with love and 
sweetness, and a smiling countenance, spoke of the 
goodness of the Lord to her soul, and recommended 
her counsel to those that were present, that they 
might not leave that work to do, but labour to 
make their calling and election sure, before they 
were cast upon a bed of languishing, as she was 

L4 



2 4 S PIETY PROMOTED. 

upon •, but through the love of her heavenly Father, 
she was waiting for her change, and desired that 
she might hold out to the end in true patience. 
And she desired George Whitehead a ho to be at 
her burial. And after he h.;d spoken a few words 
in prayer and supplication on her behalf, she parted 
with him in much love and unity. — And afterwards 
she said, ■ O that I had wings like a dove ! for then 
c would I fly away, and be at rest : ' with many 
other living and heavenly expressions. 

These things are written, not only for the comfort 
but encouragement of those who are yet behind, 
to love the Lord above all, and follow him fully, 
that he may not forsake them in the day of distress ; 
as this friend often said the eternal God was her 
refuge, and underneath was the everlasting arm of 
his power, to uphold and lift up her head above the 
floods of temptations and trials that she met withal 5 
by which she was enabled to sound forth praises, 
and humble thanksgiving to his holy and blessed 
name. 

And so she departed this life the next day, being 
the 3d day of the Second month, in the year 1702, 
aged about Thirty-nine years, and was buried at 
friends' burial-ground in iiunhill-fields, London. 



THE END OF THE SECOND PART. 



PIETY PROMOTED, 

IX A 

COLLECTION OF DYING SAYINGS 

OF MANY OF THE PEOPLE CALLED 

QUAKERS.. 

WITH 

A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THEIR 
LABOURS IN TEE GOSPEL*, 

AND SUFFERINGS FOR THE SAME. 
THE THIRD PART. 
A NEW EDITION. 

By JOHN TOMKINS. 



" FortKey that say such things , declare plainly, that they 

!t seek a country that is an heavenly : Wherefore God is 

" not ashamed to be called their Cod, for he hath prepared for 
"them a city," Heb. xi. 14, 16. 



LONDON i 

PRINTED AND SOLD BY WILLIAM FHIlLir?, 
GEORGE YARD, LOMBARD STREET^ 



1812 



THE PREFACE TO THE READER. 



Impartial Reader, 

'T^HE Author's design in continuing these ^ col- 
* lections, having already been discovered in his 
two former treatises upon this subject, to be no less 
than the promoting of piety, I hope I shall not need 
to recommend this third part of his so necessary, 
useful, and commendable labours to thy serious 
perusal, especially in such an age as this, wherein 
impiety is so sensibly promoted, not only by the 
notoriously prophane, but also by the presumptuously 
careless professors of Christianity. 

How much conducing to obtain this excellent 
end, the dying words, even of the worst of men, 
and malefactors, have been esteemed, is evident by 
the practice of most governments in exposing them 
to public view, as a warning against vice, and 
incentive to virtue. How much more shall we 
count the dying words of the ■ righteous (whose 
death is precious in the eyes of the Lord) likely 
to answer this end, and therefore worthy, with 
their lives and names, . to be had . in everlasting 
remembrance. 

And although the short reflections given upon the 
birth, conversion, labours, travels, conversation; and 
sufferings of many of these precious servants and 
handmaids of the Lord are very inviting, as well as 
instructive, in shewing forth that free and universal 
grace of God, whereby they came to be what they 
were, and that arm of power whereoy they were 
upheld in, and delivered out of many tribulations 3 
yet the main intention of the Author is ? to send us 
L-6 



252 THE PREFACE TO THE READER. 

to the house of mourning, which (saith Solomon) is 
better to go to than the house of rejoicing *, that we 
may learn so to live, as to be prepared to die, and 
enter upon an eternal state. And if death-beds 
were more frequented, and places of recreation less, 
we might hope the advantage would make amends 
for that part of self-denial. There we may often 
hear a more reaching sermon in a few broken words, 
than the most elegant in the pulpit •, but especially 
from two sorts of experienced preachers, namely, 
sinners repenting, and saints triumphing : there we 
may hear all agreeing in one common prayer, viz. 
Oh ! W me die the death of the righteous, and let 
my latter end be like his. There we may hear men 
discovering what they really believe, often very 
differently from what they formerly professed ; and 
many with the repenting thief, come to have a 
better religion upon their death-bed, than all their 
life-long before. There we may here those who 
have been eagerly pleading for sin, now crying out 
against it as the sting of death. Those who have 
exclaimed against good works, as dangerous to their 
faith, now wishing that all their time had been 
spent in going about doing good. Those who have 
charged God foolishly with an absolute reprobation, 
now trusting in, and begging his universal mercy. 
Those who have known Christ after the flesh only, 
now desiring to feel him within, as the hope of 
glory. Those who have grieved, resisted, and 
mocked at the holy spirit, now seeking for strength 
and comfort from it. Those who have opposed the 
light of Christ, now gladly embracing it in the dark 
valley of the shadow of death. Those who have 
lived upon outward observations, and been feeding 
upon husks with the prodigal, now looking towards 
their Father's house for the substance, the water of 
regeneration, the bread of life, and the new wine of 
the kingdom., There we may hear teachers, tutors, 



THE PREFACE TO THE READER. 253 

confessors, and such like, who have had peoples 
faith and conscience at their command, often ex- 
claimed against, if not as bad examples, yet as 
miserable comforters, and physicians of ho value. 
Now names, notions, creeds, traditions, controversies, 
honours, riches, compliments, pastimes, &c. are 
little regarded when death, the king of terrors, is in 
view, and the great judge stands at the door, who, 
without respect of persons, judgeth and rewardeth 
according to every man's work. Now nothing, will 
administer comfort but the inward absolution of our 
holy high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ; nothing 
but the unction of the blessed spirit of intercession 
and adoption. Here those who have loved God 
above all, and their neighbours as themselves, are 
found to have the best religion, and to be the true 
believers in Christ, and witnesses of his redemption 

' and salvation ; and those to be the true and most 
honourable scholars, who have been taught by the 
grace of God (which brings salvation, and hath 
appeared unto all men) to deny ungodliness, and the 
world's lusts, and to live soberly, righteously and 
godly in this present world. There we may find 
the righteous, with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob anil 
Joseph,* advising, encouraging and blessing their 

. posterity ; with Moses going up to the top of the 
mount, to take a view of the good land, in retirement 
and solitariness with the Lord ; with Joshuaf en- 
gaging others to fear and serve him alone, and to 
put away their strange gods ; with Samuel, £ 
mourning and praying for those who have forsaken 
the Lord ; with David,§ expressing their faith in his 
promises, concerning their house, and their religious 
concern for their building of his •, recommending 
truth, justice and mercy to succeeding generations , 

* Gen. xviii. xix. and xxvii. v. 27. 40. Chap. xlix. and I. 24, 

Deut. 33, xxxiv. chap, f Josh. xxiv. J 1 Sam. xv. 

$ 2 Sam, xxjiz, 1 Sauii Yii» V Kings, ii. — viii, 18. 



254 THE PREFACE TO THE READER. 

with Hezekiah* appealing to God about their sin- 
cerity : in short with Job,-j- Simeon,:): Stephen,} Paul,]) 
and others of the faithful servants and followers of 
Christ, embracing death, hastening to meet it, 
longing to be dissolved, and to be with him, their 
captain, fore-runner and re warder. Thus preaching 
and praying, and praising the Lord freely and 
fervently, boldly and experimentally, and all without 
book, as the holy spirit gives utterance, has upon 
a death-bed often proved an affecting, tendering and 
converting season to many hearers. 

To such an house of" mou#iing (or shall I say 
rejoicing) the Author of these collections kindly 
invites thee, Christian reader ; where, by hearing 
the dying songs and sayings of the ransomed and 
redeemed, who knew in whom they had believed, 
thou mayest also come to know and believe n that 
great and true light, which enlightens every man 
coming into the world ; for it was by the inshining 
thereof, that the feet of these blessed ones, now at 
rest with the Lord, (as of all the righteous ages 
past) were guided into the way of truth and peace. 

This opened their states, tried their reigns, sifted 
their words, weighed their actions, stayed their 
minds, changed their hearts, condemned disobedience, 
justified faithfulness, counselled in difficulties, dis- 
covered the enemy, unveiled the painted harlot, 
the world, and the false church, and gave them the 
light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the 
face of Jesus Christ,^ for whose sake they suffered 
the loss of all, and followed him in the regeneration 
and self-denial, and are now entered with him into 
that rest which remains for the people of God. 

Christopher Meidel. 

* Isaiah xxxviii. 1, 2, 3. f Job xiv. 13. \ JLuke ii. 29 — 32. 
§ Acts vii. 55, 56, 59. || Phil. i. 21, 22, 23. % 2 Cor. iV. 6, 



PIETY PROMOTED. 



THE THIRD PART. 



JOHN BOWRON, born at Gotherstone in York- 
*^ shire, near Barnard-Castle, in the year 1627, 
which was the place of his outward habitation to his 
death. He received the truth by the ministry of 
George Fox and James Naylor, when they came into 
those parts; which was about the year 1653: and 
soon after he went to Startford steeple-house, and 
preached to the priest and people, and from thence 
to the cross, and at Barnard -Castle, and at Rumbel 
steeple-house, and the people threw snow at him, 
as he stood upon a stone speaking to them ; and 
then he went to Bowes, and stood up in the 
steeple-house yard, and spake to the people there ; 
and one of the men cried out to the people, Hang 
him, hang him in the bell-house; and some time 
after that man hanged himself. After that he 
travelled into Allandale, and had a meeting there, 
and so to Scotland : at Edinburgh he preached to 
the people as he went through the streets of that 
city, and at the cross, and there were English 
soldiers who were kind to him, and he travelled 
through that nation; .the soldiers were very kind to 
him, but the priests were in a rage against him, for 
he was a dread to them. 

About the year 1656 he took another journey to 
Scotland, and at Birkwell he took shipping for 



256 PIETY PROMOTED. 

Barbadoes and was kindly received in that island , 
and had many good meetings there \ and they would 
have had him tarried with them as long as he lived ; 
but when his service was over in that island, he took 
shipping for Surinam, and travelled upon the coasts 
of Guiana, a country of South America, three or 
four hundred miles, where the people go mostly 
naked. Me wont to their sort of worship, which 
was performed by beating upon holly-trees, and 
making a great noise with skins, like a sort of 
drums ; and he declared the word of the Lord 
among them by an interpreter; and he travelled to 
Commawena, and Bottico, and Bantibo, and Truc- 
keribo, and Specklewoed country, and spake to their 
kings, who were arrayed with fish-shells hung about 
their necks and arms ; and they spake to him in 
their language, and confessed he was a good man 
come from far to preach the white man's God. 
After he had declared the day pf the Lord in this 
barbarous country, he returned with his interpreter 
back to Barbadoes again, and staid a little time 
there, visiting friends ; and a ship presenting, he 
embarked for England, which proved a long perilous 
voyage of thirteen weeks passage, for after they had 
been at sea about six weeks, they met with a violent 
storm, which took away their rigging, and their 
provisions grew scanty, so that for five weeks they 
were reduced to a pint of water and a biscuit a day 
each man. There were about sixty persons on 
board, and some died ; but at length they arrived at 
Dover, where he took passage by land for London, 
and met with George Fox, and Francis Howgill, to 
whom he gave an account of his voyage ; this was 
about the time that Richard Cromwell was made 
protector of England, to whom he went with a 
message from the Lord, and warned him of the day 
of the Lord. 
After John Bowron returned home into Yorkshire, 



PIETY PROMOTED. 257 

and resting a little time, he took his journey into 
Scotland again, and so into Ireland 7 travelling through 
all that nation from sea to sea,- and returned back 
again ; and so continued visiting that nation of 
Ireland six times in six years. He was divers times 
in prison for the testimony of the truth 5 as at 
Durhham goal, and at Richmond house of correction 
twenty weeks- m a sharp winter ; and for being at a 
meeting at Croft-bridge, they took from him a horse 
and two steers, and imprisoned him again in Durham 
goal \ afterwards h© was released by the bishop of 
Durham. He oftentimes travelled to London in 
company with John LangstafF, and to Bristol, and 
the west of England, till of latter years, hindered 
by age and bodily infirmity. After many journies* 
and sore travail and labour, the Lord gave this 
blessing, that he lived to be full of days, and died 
in peace in the same house where he was born. 
About two weeks before his death, he rode to the 
meeting as he used to do v and bore his testimony 
among friends ;. and two or three days after went to 
the burial of an ancient friend, and his grand-child 
waited upon him, where he spake at the grave-yard 
a pretty while. The First-day after,, rinding his 
strength decay, he desired his son Henry Bowron, 
to go to the meeting, and acquaint friends that his 
days were almost* spent, and he knew not that he 
should come any more amongst them ; and his son 
answered his desire, and many friends came to see 
him ; two days after he arose without help, and 
came cheerfully forth of his chamber, desiring his 
■son to trim him, which he did \ after, he took his 
grand-children by the hand, saying, ' Stay with me* 
f go not away, for I am taking my journey to a city, 
*• New Jerusalem, that need not the light of the sun, 

* nor th« light of the moon, for the Lord God and the 
c Lamb is the light thereof;' and he added,, saying, 

* Sion is a precious habitation, he that dweileth within 



2 5 8 PIETY PROMOTED. 

' the gates of Sion shall never want.' Again, 'What 

* can be expected ? I have seen many good days ; I 
' have seen the wonders of God both by sea and 
1 land — and the sea saw the wonders of God, and 
1 fled, and Jordan was driven back.' 

Sometimes he would pray to the Lord, saying, 

* Lord bless this nation, and the city of London, 
4 whom I dearly love/ The night before he died 
Thomas Raylton came to visit him, and being told 
who it was, he said, ' Thomas, pray with me/ and 
lie did so, and the presence of God was felt amongst 
them, and praises were given unto the Lord. And 
though he was weak in body, yet strong in the 
inward man, and expressed his satisfaction with that 
opportunity together. After he said, * Thomas, 
'what meeting had ye yesterday?' (meaning the 
quarterly-meeting) he answered they had a good 
meeting \ of which he was glad : further he enquired, 
'What way art thou going?' Thomas told him 
southward-, he said, 'Tell friends of London how 
4 I am, and mind to give my love to them, and to 
' G. Whitehead;' and in great sweetness of spirit,, 
and peace of soul, he continued till about midnight,, 
sensible to the last. 

He died the 5th day of the Eighth month, 1704; 
aged Seventy-seven years ; a minister Fifty-one years. 



TTUGH ROBERTS, late of Pennsylvania, for- 
-"--*- merly of Wales, was a man fitted and qualified 
by God's power to be a serviceable minister to the 
church of Christ in the parts of America, in which 
country he lived about eighteen years. His company 
was very desirable, being greatly edifying \ he had 
passed through many trials and exercises, so could 
by experience speak a word in season to the tra- 
vailing and weary soul. His doctrine in the meetings 



PIETY PROMOTED. 259 

of God's people dropped as dew, and his speech as 
small rain upon the tender plants ; for in the 
openings of life, things both new and old came forth 
of the treasury of wisdom, and his testimony was 
comfortable to the hearts of the people, in the sense 
of God's love, who is the author of all good to his 
people ; a man zealous for good order in the church, 
and skilful to accommodate differences when they 
happened. He travelled in the work of the gospel 
in Maryland, Long Island, Rhode Island, and Nev/ 
England, where his service was effectual to the 
people, and to himself a great satisfaction. At his 
return homewards, being weakly of body, having 
been much spent, he lay sick at the house of John 
Rodman in Long Island, where his friend John 
Bevan visiting him, he said, * Nothing lies in my 
? way as an obstruction to hinder my peace with 
1 God.' After that he got home to Pennsylvania : a 
friend of his taking his farewell of him, said to him, 
t I believe thy deep trials and exercises are near at 
' an end, and that peace and joy everlasting will be 

* thy portion from the Lord for thy faithfulness/ 
In much brokenness of heart, and sense of the 
presence of God upon his spirit, he answered the 
friend after this manner, 1 1 am satisfied thereof, 

* and can bless my God for it.' 

He departed this life the 18th of the Sixth month, 
1702, and his body was buried at Merrion the 
20th of the same. 



pRISCILL A COTTON, formerly wife of Arthur 
-*- Cotton, who then dwelt at Plymouth in Devon- 
shire, now of Colchester in Essex, was one of the 
first that received friends in Plymouth ; namely, 
John Audland and Thomas Arey, in 1654, and she 
lived an honourable life,, and was valiant for truth, 
and often bore public testimony to it in steeple- 



26o PIETY PROMOTED. 

houses, and other places, against the priests and 
professors, who walked out of the truth;, and for 
her testimony she suffered several inprisonments and 
cruel dealings from them, and other instruments 
'employed by them. Moreover she travelled in 
several places, bearing testimony for -truth in the 
living power of God. She also in her life time gave 
forth several good papers, which are printed-, and 
lastly, the day she died, she left a paper for friends, 
as a testimony of her good will and love to them all ; 
which is as followeth. 

' The Testimony of Priscilla Cotton, to Friends, the 
1 day she died. 

* All my dear friends, who have found your Re- 
' deemer, Oh ! wait upon him at all times, that you 

* may stand continually in his presence where life 
( is, that with the light you receive from him, you 

* may see your thoughts, and deny them, that in 

* stayedness you may be kept, when the hasty fro- 

* ward spirit would arise, and keep it down. And 
1 with the measure of God's spirit all may be weigh- 
*• ed, the words to what they tend, that no lightness 
1 may appear in your words, nor unsavouriness, that 
c no offence come, but edification by all you speak. — 
1 Let the elders watch, that at no time the younger 

* may see lightness, laughter, or words of offence, 

* but that you may always keep down the evil in 

* yourselves, and may miniscer grace to all you have 

* to do withal, that God's spirit be not grieved ; so 
1 keep the field clean, that was once ploughed up 

* and made green and beautiful, that no stones nor 

* hurtful weeds grow in it to oppress the seed. 

8 And friends, the cross is the power of God; 

* when you flee the cross, you lose the power; that 
' which pleaseth self, is above the cross, and that 

* which pleaseth man, is above the cross ; and that 



PIETY PROMOTED. 261 

which shuns the cross, yields to the carnal part, 
and loses its dominion ; though the cross seems 
foolishness, stand in it ; though it seems weak, 
stand in it; though it be a stumbling-block to the 
wise, stand in it; there the dominion, authority, 
and crown is received. And this is not for you to 
be exercised in, only for a time, as at your first 
convineement, but daily, even to the death, as long 
as a desire, will or thought, remaineth in you, con- 
trary to God's pure light, and judge by it; and as 
you wait in the light, you will come to know a 
cress in the use of meat, drink, and apparel, and 
keep to the cross when alone, or in company ; 
what the pure mind of God stands against in you, 
that the cross is against. So friends, watch daily to 
keep Christ's command, F Take up your daily cross,' 
be not at liberty one day, but deny thy own will, 
thy own thoughts, and thy own self; taking up the 
cross, you feel the power, the strength of the Lord 
God, which breaks down all, keeps in order, in 
safety,, and in peace ; and this preserves from " 
stubbornness, wilfulness, and headineas, and brings 
all to be subject, as dear "children, unto God, and 
subject one unto another as brethren. In the light 
and in the -cross there is no evil thoughts, no hard 
speeches, no contention, no loving pre-eminence ; 
but as brethren and sisters, pitiful, tender-hearted, 
courteous, forgiving, forbearing, long-suffering, and 
supporting one another ; here the power of the cross 
is known, which brings all to God's praise, and to 
his honour and glory, and to his children's pros- 
perity and peace : so let it be, amen. 

Priscilla Cotton.' 

After this, seeing her departure was nigh at hand, 
she desired several friends to be called ; being come, 
she desired to be lifted up in her bed ; and in a sense 
of life she spake suitably to every one for some time, 



262 PIETY PROMOTED. 

exhorting friends to peace and unity, and to keep in 
the cross, which is the power of God, that all might 
witness a mortification to sin, and a rencwedness to 
life, that the living God and his holy truth might be 
honoured by all ; and that friends might keep out of 
the fashions and customs of the world, both in words 
and apparel, every one answering the truth therein. 

After this she called for her husb?.nd, who was at 
that time weak ; embracing him, she said, ' My dear 
' husband, the Lord hath largely manifested his love 

* to us, and large has been our experience thereof, 
1 ever since he brought us together to this day ; and 
1 now my dear, the Lord will separate us, but grieve 

* not, let thy eye and expectation be to him, and the 

* Lord who hath hitherto helped us, will be thy help 

* and support ; in whom let thy trust be for ever !' — 
In like manner she called tor her daughter, and gave 
her charge to live in subjection to God's truth, and 
to forsake what she was convinced of to be sin and 
evil, saying if she feared the Lord, and walked in 
his truth, it shall be well with her; but if not, thou 
wilt be miserable ; and she also spake to other 
friends and relations, which for brevity is omitted. 
Afterwards she said, ' Let me lie down that I may 
6 die ;' so in great stillness and quietness she departed 
this life, about four hours after she had spoken these 
words, the 4th day of the Sixth month, 1664. 



A NDREW GRAHAM, of Cumberland, near the 
-^ borders of Scotland, was a man of large under- 
standing, a loving temper, and willing to do good 
unto all, which increased his esteem with all sorts 
of people. When the Lord was pleased to send his 
servants called Quakers to preach the gospel in the 
borders of England, in Cumberland, he with many 
hundreds came to hear their testimony, and did con* 



PIETY PROMOTED. 263 

fess unto the truth. But he was before closely joined 
in fellowship with a people of good repute in the 
country, and it was hard for him to leave them, 
which occasioned his halting as between two some 
considerable time, until the Lord was pleased to 
renew his visitation unto him, and by his righteous 
judgments awakened him into a true sense of his 
state ; so that he was deprived of peace, until he 
gave up to be faithful to what the Lord by his spirit 
discovered to him to be his duty ; and joined with 
his people called Quakers from that time, and was 
a good example in conversation among men, iu 
humility, and in self-denial, and in suffering; and 
in about two years time the Lord committed to him 
a part of the ministry, and he faithfully laboured in 
the work of the gospel, in the churches of Christ, 
both in some parts of England, and in Scotland, and 
his service was great in the meeting unto which he 
more peculiarly belonged, and the more for his in- 
nocency, true zeal, and being devoted to the service 
of the truth, labouring to bring people to the life 
and power of godliness. He was as a nursing father, 
or cherisher of those in whose hearts he saw God 
had begun his work, as well that he was terrible 
against ungodliness. 

He was suddenly seized with a great sickness, and 
lay sick but a short time; in which time he said, 

* I see they are happy, that when death comes have 

* nothing to do but to die ; for the pains of the body 
- € at this time is enough to struggle with : ? and as he 

lived, so he died, ending his days in a travail of 
spirit, that friends might be faithful ; and friends 
visiting him, the Lord's power and presence was 
plentifully enjoyed, to the tendering of the hearts of 
many. He finished his course in this life on the 
15th of the "Eleventh month, 1704. Aged Sixty- 
two years. 



**4 PIETY PROMOTED. 

npiIOMAS WRESLE, of Winteringham, in the 
-*■ county of Lincoln, was an early seeker of truth 
•and righteousness; and for some time had his con- 
versation among the Baptists. He received the truth 
in the year 1655, wherein he much improved, and 
approved himself a faithful man, loving truth, and 
the friends thereof, with all his heart, and serving 
it and them faithfully to the end of his days ; ex- 
emplary in his conversation, and helpful to his 
neighbours ; having a good understanding, was able 
to give counsel and advice, which was esteemed 
amongst them. In his sickness lie said, * 1 have 
' seen where the weary are at rest, and where the 

* wicked cease from troubling; and I have received 

* an earnest of that blessed inheritance, which is laid 
1 up in store for all the faithful.' A day or two 
before he died, some of his friends visiting him, 
which greatly comforted him, as he signified; to 
whom he said, ■ I have loved truth with all my 
' heart, and all the friends of it, and feel nothing, 
'but that all is well with me;' and in and with 
much fervency said, ' I desire that friends would 

* keep up their meetings in the name and power of 
c the Lord jesus Christ, and that the Lord may bless 
c and prosper them ;' and exhorted friends to keep 
their ancient zeal, love, and integrity, which the 
Lord raised in them in the beginning, saying, ' that 
' is my great comfort now upon my dying bed ;' and 
taking his leave of friends, said, ' It is life, it is life, 
4 friends, that overcomes death;' saying, c give my 

* dear love to all faithful friends every where;' and 
life and truth was felt to flow among them at that 
time. 

He died the 21st of the Twelfth month, 1704. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 265 

TyiLLIAM CAPTAIN came out of England 
^ with his parents into Ireland, after the civi. 
wars ; he was convinced at Montmelick meeting : 
he was bred a scholar, in his youth intended for sj 
priest ; he was a faithful, patient, and deep sufferei 
for the testimony of a good conscience, and often 
in prison for meeting to worship God, and for tithes, 
■holding forth a good conversation, as became the 
.gospel. In the time of his sickness, some friends 
being present, he said to them as followeth; * The 

* Lord hath appeared to me ia a wonderful manner,, 

* when I was ready to sink under great affliction; 
( then did he take me by the hand, as he did Israel 
'*' of old, and raised me over mine afflictions ; and 
' whereas I had need of a physician, the Lord was 

* unto me instead of a physician ; and when I had 
' need of patience, he gave me patience ; and when 
x I had need of sleep, he accompanied me with his 

* living presence from time to time ; whereby my 

* soul was sweetly consolated, so that I can say with 

* the Psalmist, " It is good for me that I was af 
<( flicted ;*' and with Simeon, that " Mine eyes hav« 
<s seen his 'salvation 9" and with Job, that (i M 
<( -Redeemer liveth, and mine eyes have seen him : 

* see how good the Lord is 9 Oh ! my soul, prais 

* thou the Lord, let all that is within me praise th 

* Lord.' Another time he said, * The truth #hici 

* the Quakers profess is the way to salvation, an 
f there is no other way/ 

He died a prisoner for the testimony to truth, th • 
30th day of the Ninth month, 1672. 



O OGER GILL, of London, shoe-maker, received 
'•*■• the blessed truth, as professed by the peor. 
called Quakers, about the year 1683. He forme'.* 
went among those called Baptists, and I have he- d 
Vol. I. M 



266 PIETY PROMOTED. 

him spy that before he received truth he was guilty 
of many gross and enormous crimes ; but by the 
power and virtue of the spirit of God, he came to 
know his heart changed, and being washed and 
sanctified, and the fear of God placed therein, which 
preserved him from those vices he had formerly been 
addicted to, for wliich he was very thankful to the 
Lord. Some years before lie died God gave him a 
dispensation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 
to preach, and he was faithful and diligent in that 
service, and was an able minister, having a word in 
season to speak to the we~ry soul ; and very zealous 
he was for the prosperity of the truth. 

In the vcar 1699 he had a concern upon his mind 
to visit the brethren in America, and to preach the 
gospel to the people on that continent •, and he went 
over the sea for that purpese, in company with his 
friend Thomas Story, concerned in the same work ; 
where they had not travelled long before they heard 
the people in Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, were 
visited with a malignant distemper, which caused 
mortality ; at "hearing thereof Roger Gill said 
he felt a great weight and exercise to come upon 
him, so that he had no ease in his spirit till he came 
amongst them at Philadelphia ; the sickness increas- 
ing, he did visit the sick, and preached in their 
public meetings, saying that when he was one 
hundred miles off them, his love in the Lord was 
such to them, that had he had wings, he would fly 
into Philadelphia. It was the time of their yearly- 
meeting whilst he was there ; where he was with 
others concerned in public, earnestly to supplicate 
the Lord for the people ; and particularly Roger Gill 
fervently and devoutly interceded the Lord to stay- 
ins hand, and if he would please to accept of his life 
for a sacrifice, he did freely offer up his life to the 
Lord for the people. When meeting was over he 
often expressed the ease of his mind, and that it was 



PIETY PROMOTED. 167 

with him that he had not much to do but visit 
friends of Burlington (in West Jersey, about twenty 
miles off) and he accomplished that journey, and at 
his return to Philadelphia was taken sick with the 
distemper, which rilled him with great pain and 
affliction of body, and he remembered in his sickness 
the free-will-offering up of himself unto the Lord ; 
saying to friends about him, c It is not in my heart 

* to repent of the offer I have made ;' and he v/as 
cheerful, notwithstanding his great affliction of body ; 
and he exhorted friends to faithfulness, and said, 
i The Lord hath sanctified my afflictions to^ me, and 
e hath made my sickness as a bed of down:' and 
when some did speak of their hope of his recovery, 
he said in much love, * Truly I have neither thoughts 

* nor hopes about being raised in this life ; but I 
c know I shall rise sooner than many imagine, and 

* receive a reward according to my works ;' his sick- 
ness continued seven days upon him, and a few 
hours before his death he took his leave and said, 
■ Farewell, farewell, farewell for ever/ and sweetly 
passed away out of this life on the 2d day of the 
Eighth month, 1699. And it was observed that 
the sickness stopped, and very few was buried of it 
after him . 

He left a widow and two sons behind him in 
England-, died aged about Thirty-four years. 



"OTILLIAM SMITH, of Elsham, in the county 
Z of Lincoln, was an elder in the truth, having 
received it in the love of it, and walked faithfully 
therein to the end, and was a preacher of righteous- 
ness ; in conversation a man of sincerity and godly 
simplicity, giving no occasion of offence to Jew or 
Gentile, neither to the church of Christ, and much 
beloved by friends and neighbours \ when on his 
M2 



z6t PIETY PROMOTED. 

dying-bed, several friends visiting him, found him 
in a heavenly frame of mind-, he being told friends 
love was to him, he answered, i I have friends on 

* earth, and friends in heaven, the Father, Son, and 

* Holy Ghost, which I have true fellowship withal, 
4 though yet in this earthly tabernacle ; my treasure 

* being in heaven, my heart is there also, where the 
c Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwelleth :' as he lived, 
so lie died in the Lord, and is blessed, for so saiih 
the spirit, and he is at rest from his labours. 

He departed this life the 17th of the Twelfth 
month, 1 701. Aged Seventy-nine years. 



MARGARET THOMPSON, wife of John 
^l.tjl Thompson, near Montmelick, in Ireland, being 
upon her death-bed, and a few days before she died, 
calling her children to her, said unto them, ' Fear 

* the Lord, and abide in the fear of the Lord, I do 
' not allow you any thing further, than as you abide 

* in the truth, and love one another ;' after that she 
said, c The Lord helps me, and I find all tempta- 
' tions taken away.' Another time she said, ' 'They 
f that die in the Lord, have unity one with another; 1 
and she confessed the love of God, and said, *'I will 

* lean upon my beloved ;' and further said to friends 
present, ' Dear brethren and sisters, I exhort you in 

* the Lord to love one another, and walk in God's 
. truth for ever. Women friends, I exhort you all 

* in the love of God, govern well in your ,own 

* houses, or else you cannot govern well in the 

* church of Christ. Likewise young women, be 
' sober-minded, and fear the Lord, and be charitable, 

* and walk in love to the end. Dear friends, I 
' salute you all in the Lord, and I here give in my 
c testimony against paying of tithes, for I never paid 

* any tithes, nor I never condescended to the paying 



PIETY PROMOTED. 269 

* any, tliis being my last testimony/ She also ex- 
horted friends to their first love, which they had 
received in the beginning, bearing her testimony 
against the vain fashions of the world. She died 
the 5th of the Third month, 1688. 



XlflLLIAM GIBSON, born in Caton, near 
* ~ Lancaster, about the year 1629, being a sol- 
dier in the garrison in Carlisle, Cumberland ; and he 
with three others, understanding that a preacher 
called a Quaker, who was a stranger, had appointed 
a meeting in that city, agreed to go together to the 
meeting, with an intent to abuse the said friend, 
whose name was Thomas Holmes ; William coming 
first to the meeting, and hearing the friend power- 
fully declaring the truth, was so affected and reached 
by his testimony, that he stept up into the meeting, 
near the place where Thomas Holmes stood, know- 
ing the designs of his fellows, waited to defend the 
friend, and bid any that durst offer to abuse him | 
from which time he became a constant frequenter 
of friends meetings, and quitted his place in the 
garrison, and employed himself in the trade of shoe- 
making, and waited upon God in silence, under the 
exercise of his power, for the space of three years ; 
and afterwards he received a dispensation of the 
gospel to preach, and he became very serviceable in 
divers places of the county of Lancaster. 

On the 22d day of the Sixth month, 1662, he 
married Elizabeth Thompson, daughter of William 
Thompson, of Crosmore, in Lancashire, and settled 
in Sankey meeting, near Warrington, for some years, 
and some were convinced of truth by his ministry, 
who continue faithful to this day, and many others 
confirmed in the blessed truth, so that his memorial 
is of good savour in those parts. He afterwards 
M 3 



z-jo PIETY PROMOTED. 

travelled southwards in the work of the gospel, was 
imprisoned at Maidstone, in Kent, for his testimony, 
which imprisonment was long ; from whence being 
discharged, went to London, and removed his wife 
and family thither, where his service was well known 
to friends in that city, and many other parts of the 
nation, and many are the seals of his ministry *, and 
though he was severe in reproof, and terrible in his 
ministry to the hypocrite, and the workers of iniquity, 
yet he was as a tender father to the mourners in 
Zion, and divided the word aright, speaking a word 
in season to the tempted, afflicted, and travelling 
soul ; a cherisher of such as ( loved and feared the 
Lord •, and oftentimes his ministry was to the re- 
freshment of the weary, and the overflowings of his 
cup administered true comfort and consolation to the 
thirsty panting souls. 

He was a lover of unity amongst brethren, but as 
a sword against that spirit, which, under pretence of 
Jove to tha light of Christ Jesus in their consciences, 
would plead fur a liberty that was out of the truth, 
and sought to draw others from the footsteps of the 
flock of Christ ; to which purpose he wrote a book, 
intitled, c An Epistle of Love*/ in brief, he was a 
man devoted to the service of God, and was an ex- 
ample to believers, even in word, in conversation, in 
charity, in spirit, in faith, and in purity, and gave 
attendance to reading, and to exhortation, and to 
doctrine, and given to hospitality, and apt to teach, 
and was approved as a minister of God ; and had 
suffered hard imprisonments, and the spoiling of 
his goods, for his testimony's sake against hireling 
priests, who feed themselves and not the flock, and 
against their maintenance by tithes, &c. 

In the Third month, 1684, he travelled into his 
native country, Lancashire, though he had been out 
of health ; and in his return home was taken sick of 
an ague and fever at Coventry, and got to London ; 



PIETY PROMOTED. 271 

and he continued ill for three months. On his sick 
bed he exhorted friends who came to visit him to 
faithfulness, and trust and confidence in the Lord, 
and to the love of the brethren ; and testified against 
that spirit which leads out of unity into a self-sepa- 
ration. 

He left two sons and one daughter, to whom he 
gave good advice in the time of his sickness, direct- 
ing them to that blessed and divine light of Christ, 
which he had preached, and by which he had re- 
ceived the knowledge of God, and by walking in it, 
salvation to his soul ; desiring that they might know 
the same, and walk in it ; saying, ' It will shew you 
i what is good and what is evil 5 refrain from evil, 
f and do the good; take heed to God's word in your 

* hearts, so you will know your ways cleansed by it ;' 
and he charged them to avoid all vain and idle com- 
pany, and to be diligent in frequenting the assem- 
blies of the Lord's people, and to have an ear open 
to receive the good counsel and advice of them who 
fear the Lord, and are faithful to him, and to keep 
society with such, and to flee youthful lusts, which 
war against the soul ; and moreover he said, * Love 

* the righteous judgments of the Lord, and have 

* regard to the fear of God, and love humility, so 
s shall you receive wisdom and understanding ; and 
' be obedient to your mother, and be tender ovsr 
' her ; and be not conceited, nor high-minded ;' and 
he also charged them to read the scripture, and other 
good books. Thus did this good man, like Abraham, 
charge his children to walk before the Lord *, he was 
very resigned, and given up to die, and expressed his 
love to the brethren, saying 6 My love in the Lord Jesus 
4 is to all the faithful ; and remember my dear love 
' unto them, and to all the faithful labourers;' not 
long before he died, John Field visiting him, he 
looked earnestly on him ; his wife asked if he knew 
him, he answered ' No ;_' she told him ; he replied, 

M4 



1 72 PIETY PROMOTED. 

4 He is the first man I did not know 5' at which time 
he seemed very retired in his mind unto the Lord, 
his rock, and his refuge ; several times lifting up his 
hands, and shewed a willingness to be turned, and 
then said, ' I have spoken my mind while I could 
4 speak, and now I cannot.' 

He died the 20th of the Ninth month, 1684, about 
five in the afternoon, and was honourably buried 
at friends' burying-ground, in Bunhill-fields, many 
hundreds of friends and brethren accompanying his 
corpse to the grave. Aged Fifty-five years, a minis-* 
ter Twenty-six years. 



■pLEANQR BARCROFT, daughter of William 
- fl - i Burcroft, near Edenderry, in King's County,. 
Ireland, was a young woman of a clean and innocent 
conversation, obedient to her parents, and loving to 
all, but especially to the godly, whose company was- 
her delight ; and as her life was good, so was her 
death. In the time of her sickness she desired to. 
have the tenth chapter of Luke read, wherein two 
passages were remarkable to her \ the one of the 
• man enquiring who was his neighbour, the other of 
Martha and Mary ; at the reading of which she was 
much refreshed. The morning before she died it- 
was observed she prayed with a low voice, and did' 
wrestle in spirit with the Lord 5 and in the afternoon 
the Lord did so appear, that the pangs of death were 
as it were taken away, so that she sung hymns and 
spiritual songs of praise to Christ her Redeemer ; and 
afterwards said, * Oh! that I might live with thee 
( for ever, and for evermore ;' then she took leave of 
her parents and relations. Being asked how she did, 
she answered, ' I feel neither pain nor trouble ;' and 
hearing her mother weep, said, c Why doth my 
mother weep, for I am well ;' so witli these and 



PIETY PROMOTED. 273 

some other words which cannot be well remembered, 
because of the sorrow of those about her, she de- 
parted this life with the seal of assurance in the true 
faith, and is gone to her rest, and hath left a good 
memorial behind her. 

She died the 27th of the Eighth month, 1678, in 
the Nineteenth year of her age. 



nTHE Words and Testimony of Thomas Gettos, 
A of Bandon in Ireland, about eight hours before his 
departure out of this life ; he was weak in body, but 
fervent in mind, and perfect in memory ; taken 
from his mouth the 22d of the Third month, 1682. 

* I have known the terrors of the Lord for sin, 
c and for transgression committed against him in the 
' time of my youth ; but he that is an everlasting 
< fountain of life and mercy, did not leave me in the 
( greatness of my wickedness, but did in the abun- 
' dance of his pity and compassion visit me, and find 
( me out, and did lay hold on me by his judgments, 

* and did awaken me, even in that dead state and 
1 condition he found me in ; and did make manifest 
? his living truth, viz. .Christ Jesus, the light of the 
'world, which enlightens^ every one that cometh 
( into the world, of the" whole stock of mankind; 
f so the light and life being made manifest unto me, 
' it became the joy of my heart, and the life of my 

* soul ; and so I was brought to see that I must 
c come to^deny the world, and the glory and riches 
' thereof, and the honour thereof, and all things that 
{ are beneath : and it became a very great cross unto 

* the fleshly part, which I saw 1 must daily keep 

* unto ; for when I went from that which crucified 

* me unto the world, and the world snto me, my 
' enemy prevailed over me ; so that I saw the words 
s of ..Christ. fulfilled in me, in that respegt, according 

M'| - 



274 PIETY PROMOTED. 

c to his testimony, who declared on this wise ; " Who- 
" soever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, 
" cannot be my disciple ; " so when I came to see 

* that heavenly treasure made manifest, and revealed 

* in my soul, and kept my affections thereunto, the 
' yoke of Christ which seemed to be so heavy became 

* light ; even so it is unto all them that keep in faith- 

* ful obedience unto h m, and take up his daily cross ; 

* so that I have known a travail towards that spiritual 

* kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; 

* for I saw a race set before me, and I saw, if I did 

* run with all my might, it was possible for me to 
' obtain the prize •, so that therein T have had an 

* exercise of mv faith •, for had I not believed in the 
1 object of my faith Christ Jesus, it had been im- 
' possible for me to run that blessed race *, and as I 
4 was faithful and obedient unto the manifestation of 

* Christ, which is God's righteousness, which is 

* manifest and received in the internal parts, I 

* received daily supplies of strength in my greatest 

* exercises j unto whom then shall I return the glory 

* and the praise of this wonderful work of my 

* salvation, and eternal happiness, but unto Christ 
' Jesus, the great fountain of life, mercy, and truth, 

* and righteousness ! which I do desire to return at 
4 this time, and at all other times, unto him who 
1 lives and reigns for ever, God over all, blessed for 

* evermore. 

4 And now, my friends, as the Lord brought 
1 these things unto my remembrance, I could do no 

* less than declare unto you the wonderful dealings 

* of the Lord to my soul, that all thereby might 
c receive the instructions of the Lord, who is fore- 
' warning the sons and daughters of men, according 
** to the greatness of his wisdom. And certainly, 
*■ although the Lord never created man to destroy 

* him, yet his determination shall stand for ever ; 

* that is, they that take warning in the day of their 



PIETY PROMOTED. 275 

visitation, and do return with all their hearts, and 
with all their souls, shall find the way of life made 
manifest, and revealed in them, which leads unto 
the Father, who is an eternal fountain of life* 
But they that neglect the day of their visitation,- 
must be shut up under darkness, until the great 
day of the Lord. And then they shall come to 
know they have rebelled against him, and must 
know his righteous judgments, although it be to 
their everlasting destruction ; so here they shall see 
and know that their destruction was and is of 
themselves*, and God will be glorified, even in the 
destruction of his enemies. And now it is the 
desire of my heart and soul, even before the Lord 
God Almighty, that all may be warned and 
awakened out of that state of deadness and se- 
curity, which the god of this world hath brought 
them into, so that the righteous judgments of the 
Lord might be made manifest unto them, that so 
they may lay hold of his mercy, in the day of their 
visitation. And as for my dear friends, who have 
known the gathering arm of his power into the 
holy habitation of our God, which is Jerusalem, 
which is from above, the mother of us all, I warn 
you all in the fear of the Lord to be careful to 
keep your habitation, for in that consists your 
safety 5 for while Israel kept the place, wherein 
God ordained to be in outwardly, Balaam could 
not curse them, nor no inchantment could be 
found to prevail against them ; but when the wiles 
of their adversaries inticed them out of their 
habitations, how many thousands were destroyed 
thereby : the enemy stands without this holy ha- 
bitation of the people of the Lord, to intice his 
people to mix with a wrong seed, and then we 
give our strength to our enemies, and so be-fool 
away that heavenly treasure which God hath 
committed to our charge. And notwithstanding 
M-6 



;;6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

1 the enemy hath prevailed over many upon this 
' account, yet I have taken notice of the goodness 
' of this heavenly shepherd, and great bishop of our 
1 souls, who hath sought after them also, that have 

* been scattered out of the fold by that means. 

* And many he hath laid hold on by the crook of his 
' judgments, and brought them back to the fold 

* again. And behold how many have perished, to 
1 the grief of the shepherd, and of the flock also. 
' But oh ! for eVer blessed and praised' be the Lord, 

* that hath kept and preserved a remnant that hath 
' faithfully followed him, who are built upon the 

* rock Christ Jesus, where they stand stedfastly, 

* shewing forth the greatness of his love. And are 
1 as a city on a hill, that are seen far and near; and 
' are become the light of the dark world, by the 
1 shining of their holy conversation ; and so shining 
1 by reflection, receiving their light continually from 

* Christ Jesus, the true light of the world. So 
1 blessed are all thev who know the gathering into 
' this blessed city, and abide stedfast unto the end ; 

* for the Lord hath chosen Mount Sion unto himself, 
1 that from thence his glory might be proclaimed 
' throughout all generations. And now, my dearly 
■ beloved friends, who I dearly salute, even in the 

* bowels of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; oh \ 
1 my love unto you ail is beyond expression, who 
' have kept in faithful obdience unto the truth ; oh f 
' the blessed satisfaction that we have found in him, 

* when we have been gathered into his name, and 
f there drank together in one spirit^ so that our 
' souls have been exceedingly refreshed, and we 
4 have been made partakers of the heavenly bread, 

* which hath been broken plentifully unto us, even 
f at the table of the Lord. Oh ! never forget those 

* blessed opportunities, but as you are kept in 
'spiritual health, you will feel a hungering after 
'•the bread of life, day after day, and a thirsting 



PIETY PROMOTED. 277 

c after tlie water of life also j so being kept here, 
4 you are capable of the blessing of the Lord, and 
\ will see the scripture fulfilled in yourselves, which 
' saith, " Blessed are they that hunger and thirst 
" after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied:" 
and about eight hours after he had delivered this to 
friends present, he <Med in peace the 22d of the 
Third month, 1682. 



TAMES BLACKHOUSE, of Yelland Conyers, 
. - in the county of Lancaster, was born of believing 
parents, called Quakers, in the year 1668, and when 
he grew up he received the same faith, and for 
several years- professed truth in much sincerity and 
plainness ; he was- a man of a blameless conversation, 
and a good example, and of great service in divers 
affairs of truth, until the year 1697 he was, at the 
suit of the dean and chapter of Worcester, ap- 
prehended and committed to Lancaster castle for his 
Christian testimony against tithes, where he continued 
for some time a faithful sufferer, until he fell sick of 
body, which increased upon him to the finishing of 
his life in this world •, and when he was (as to 
outward appearance) nigh unto death, the Lord 
revived his spirit, and he did sing v and make 
pleasant melody unto God in his heart-, and said, 

* The Lord hath appeared in a wonderful manner 
f unto my soul, and the Lord hath removed and 
€ taken away the pains of this my outward body, and 

* hath received me into his bosom, and hath set me 
S upon his holy mountain, which is as sure as 

* Mount Sion, that cannot be moved, and it is better 
f for me to die than to live.' 

He died a faithful sufferer for the testimony of 
Jesus Christ, in Lancaster castle,, the 13th day of 
the Fourth month* 1697, Aged Twenty-nine years. 



2-8 PIETY PROMOTED. 

1% TERCY JOHNSON, wife of Elihu Johnson, of 
^^- Manchester, and daughter of Samuel Watson, 
of Stanford! in the county of York, was born the 
7th day of the Fifth month, 1670. She received a 
gift of the ministry while unmarried ; and in the 
year 1697 travelled with Jennet Stow in the work of 
the gospel into the western parts, and southern parts 
oi England) and in some part of Wales; and in the 
year 1699 went with her father, Samuel Watson, 
into Scotland, to visit the meetings of friends in 
that nation: she was a tender woman, of a weakly 
constitution of body, though many times, when in 
the Lord's service, she seemed very strong, and was 
concerned in her spirit for the good of all, and for 
the prosperity of truth, and desired no long life in 
this world. In the beginning of her illness she 
often desired of the Lord to give her patience to 
undergo what might be suffered to come upon her : 
after, her illness abated, but in some time came 
again violently upon her; also she was sensible her 
end drew near, and often desired it in the time of 
her sickness ; the Lord favoured her with his pre- 
sence, and made her sicjf bed pleasant to her, 
insomuch that she sang praises to the Lord, the 
giver of all good things: many friends visited her in 
her sickness, and it was a comfort to them and her 
relations to feel the Lord's presence with her, and 
she declared of the goodness of God, and how well 
content she was to be taken off the stage of this 
world, saying, ( I am not in love with it ; ' and 
many were her excellent sayings, which are not 
remembered; near her latter end she was more filled 
with God's salvation, and some of her words were 
as followeth, some friends being present, ' Happy 
1 are you whose kingdom is not of this world, but 
' of the Father's ; the Father's kingdom, your king- 
* dom ! Friends, love God better than all, be faithful 
I to the Lord every one, although you are but few, 



PIETY PROMOTED. 279 

* I could have been glad that the whole meeting had 

* been here, surely they will remember what I said 
c the last meeting I opened my mouth among them ; 

* that was to prize their precious time, not knowing 
f how long they might have time, neither what 
( exercises they have yet to meet withal ; now the 
c time draws near that I shall go to an everlasting 
' kingdom, where all sorrow, tears and sighing shall 
' be done away, glory, glory in the highest, to the 

* Lord my God, who hath been with me, and borne 
' up my head in time of great exercises \ I have 

* nothing to do but to die; keep you near to the 
'Lord, that so when you come to lay down your 
' heads you may have nothing to do but die , ' then 
speaking to her husband, she said, i Oh ! my dear, 

* I have in the time of my health desired to live 
' with the Lord, and to be faithful to him, and now 

* I see I have nothing to spare ; what will become 

* of those who live a careless life, and do not make a 
f right use of their precious time ? 3 She was in the 
time of her speaking these words filled with the love 
of God, and the sweet spirit of life did attend her, 
to the comfort of those present ; and she said, c This 

* outward body grows weaker and weaker, yet blessed 
' and praised be the Lord, my inward man grows 

* stronger and stronger ; ' and in time of silence 
made songs of melody to God in her heart •, after a 
friend prayed by her, she said,. f I am so filled with 
c God's love, I shall never be emptied again ;' she 
much longed to go out of this world, waiting for the 
coming of the Lord to remove her^ and said, c My 
' dear children, I have prayed for them, who are 
s near and dear to me, but now I can leave them 

* freely, and commit them into the hand of my 
' God \ ' and speaking to her husband and them, she 
said, ; I must part with all, and I will bid you all 

* farewell, the Lord bless you all, and keep you all ? 
J in all your ex,ergi§e§ that will come upon you a 



sgo PIETY PROMOTED. 

* I believe the Lord will be with you, as you have 
c an eye to him ; ' another time she said, ' Have 

* nothing to do with them of iil spirits, but keep to 

* God, and he will give you power over them.' 
She was much grieved to see any profes ing truth to 
be light and airy out of the savour of it, and said, 
1 A day of trial will come upon then:;' another 
time, being in a quiet frame of mind, she said, 

* The sooner a period is put to this life, the sooner 
' I shall go to my everlasting comfort.' One wishing 
her a good night, she said, * I shall have a good 

* night, let it be how it will, blessed and praised 

* be the name of the Lord, I am full of his 

dness; what a great difference betwixt being 

* thus, and in some of my sick fits ? there is a great 
' comfort in one, but not in the other, only that I 
' think that it is doing the work, and hastening me to 
1 my everlasting joy:' a little before she was taken 
awav, having got some rest in sleep, when she was 
awakened, said, ' Now I am very sensible I must go 
'soon to my joy, that will last for ever;' and 
speaking to her husband said, ■ Fare thee well, my 

* dear, now I shall be well in a little time-,' then 
she lay still a little while again, she said to those 
present, * Oh ! the Lord is the best master you can 
f serve, while you live, for he will reward you in 
1 your affliccions as he rewards me •, oh ! he is a 
' fountain set open for me in a full manner, in my 
4 affliction, glory, glory, praises, praises to his eternal 
' name -, I will praise him whilst I have breath in 

* my nostrils, he has been a merciful God to me, 
' and has helped me over many things, and has 

* blotted out my sins,- and will remember them no 
'more; oh! praise, honour, and- glory to him for 

* evermore *, and now into thy hand I commit my 

* dear husband and children, whom thou hast be- 

* stowed upon me, and will take me from them, 

* bless and preserve them to the end. 5 Thus st^e 



PIETY PROMOTED. oMx 

was drawn forth to supplicate the Lord for all, 
saying, c I love all, and God above all, for what he 

* hath done for me-, } after this she asked what hour 
it Was, they told her four in the morning \ she said 

* I shall surely be gone in a few hours to my ever- 
' lasting rest ; ' desiring her dear love might be 
remembered to all friends in general *, and then she 
lay down quietly, waiting for her change, and 
desired all might be still, and none come to disturb 
her in her passing away ; after she awaked, she said, 

* Let us praise the Lord once more \ we will love 
c him above all j all glory, praise, and eternal renown 
'.to his most worthy name, he hath filled my heart, 
' and is near to crown my soul ; I would not live if 
*■ I might chuse to have the whole world, oh ! thou 
c the Lord art better than all, my soul magnifies 

* thee, honour, glory, and eternal high praises be- 
c given to thee for ever, and for evermore ;. I will 
' praise thee to the end ; Lord be with my dear 

* husband and children to the end/ She said, 
' I hope you will remember me when I am gone, to 

* the comfort of your souls.' She said to her 
husband, c The Lord united us in his own love 
1 together, and in his love he will part us. I was 
r always satisfied before and since that the Lord's' 
'hand brought us together/ The First-day of the 
week several friends came to visit her, whom she 
exhorted to be faithful to what God had made 
known to them ; and her words had power with 
them, to the tendering the hearts of them she spake 
to j a little before her departure she had a mind to 
send for her father to her burial, who was an ancient 
man about Eighty years of age, and dwelt forty 
miles off; he coming, she was glad, and told him 
how good God had been unto her in the time of her 
sickness, and said, 'If it was not for the hope of 

* glory which is to come, I had fainted;' after which 
she said, ' Now Lord, when thou pleasest remove 
( me, I am content with thy will, when thou seest 



2%z PIETY PROMOTED. 

< meet}' and she continued in a heavenly frame of 
mind : a young woman who used to go to meeting 
coming to see her, she gave good advice ; afterwards 
fell asleep •, when she awaked, her husband asked 
her if she would drink any thing ; she said, * I have 
' had a full draught of the goodness of my God; 

* I did not so much as think of cordials/ and so 
continued praising the Lord for his goodness, and 
the enjoyment of his presence ; she said, * My 
1 troubles in a little time will be over, and I shall be 
' at rest ami peace with my God, where I shall 
' praise him for everj' and she said, l Mcthiuks in 
' a vision I have seen my dear mother, and sisters, 

* in shining garments, where I shall be soon, he is a 
1 great and mighty king, that I am to go to; oh! 
' love so, that you that stay a little behind may come 
4 after:' a little before she died her husband asked 
her how she did, and she said * Come near/ and 
she kissed him, and bid him farewell ; and presently 
again she said, ' Let us bid farewell again;' and so 
died, as if she had fallen asleep, about the tenth hour 
at night, the 14th of the Twelfth month, 1704, 
in the Thirty-fourth year of her age. 

A few words of tender counsel and advice to 
friends, given forth by Mercy Johnson upon her 
dying-bed, two days before she died ; which she 
desired might be communicated to friends. 1 704. 

' Dear friends, both chM and young, wherever 
' these may come, my love salutes you dearly, de- 
i siring the welfare of your bodies and souls ; and 
1 have in my measure laboured amongst friends in 

* many places whilst with them for the prosperity 

* of truth, and good of souls, and now shall be 
c taken away ; I find great concern upon me to leave 
' as advice and tender caution to all, that you may 
c keep near to truth, and love it, seeking the honour 
6 of it above all things ; and dear friends, love one 



PIETY PROMOTED. 283 

* another, and as you have an eye to truth, and 
s seek the honour of it before your own, then will 
c your love flow one unto another, and whispering, 
< with backbiting, and tale-bearing, will be removed 
6 from you, for I have seen the ill effects of such 
c things many times : and dear friends, in your 

* meetings for business upon truth's account, have 
c your eye to the Lord, and wait to have your 
' minds stayed upon him, respecting one another 
f above yourselves for truth's sake, and you wait- 
c ing upon the Lord to work in you, and for you, 
' and to open your mouths to speak a word in sea- 

* son \ reason not, but give up freely to act and 
i speak for truth, whether you be young or old ; 

* not in highmindedness, but in true fear before the 
c Lord ; for I must tell you, the humble, and those 
( that abase themselves, the Lord will exalt, but 
' the high-minded, and those of an exalted spirit, 
4 the Lord will abase and humble them, and make 

* them know he is God, and will be bowed to by 

* every high spirit : therefore dear friends, let the 
c truth have the reign in you, to govern your words, 
1 though never so few, that they may be rightly 
' seasoned with grace, that so you may edify one 

* another, and suffer no unruly spirit to appear in 

* your meetings, neither in old nor young, but stand 
6 in the counsel of God, and he will give you a 

* word in due season, to stop the mouths of all 
1 gainsayers of the blessed truth, and the work you 
c are called to do in your days ; thus the Lord will 
i bless, and more and more prosper his work in you, 
4 to your comfort, and his eternal praise, to whom 
c all is due. I can tell you, it will be well with 

* you, to be faithful to the Lord, when you come 

* to a dying-bed, as I now am ; I feel peace and 
c true consolation with the Lord, and my love herein 

* dearly salutes you, and bids you all farewell, who 
' am your dear and tender sister, 

' Mercy Johnson.' 






284 PIETY PROMOTED. 

H^ACY DAVIS, wife of Richard Davis, of 
"Welsh Pool, in Montgomeryshire ; she formerly 
dwelt in London, but after her marriage removed 
with her husband to Pool abovesaid, where were 
few or no friends at that time, which was about the 
year 1659. She had a public testimony in meetings, 
and was instrumental to bring many to the truth, 
and was an entertainer with her husband of stran- 
gers, and a nursing mother to those in prison for 
the testimony of a good conscience ; and they lived 
together to old age-, she cheerfully went through 
the various exercises and hard sufferings which 
attended in those days those that professed the 
blessed truth ; she was taken sick the 29th of the 
Second month, 1705, and had been at a meeting the 
same day, which was kept at their house about forty 
years. After the extremity of her pain was some- 
what abated, she said, 'People do not think it so hard 
' to die, as I find it ;' and prayed thus :' ' O Lord, 
' accept of me in thy well-beloved Son Christ Jesus ; 
*I have loved thee with ail my soul and spirit; 

* I have kept thy commandments ; oh ! Lord, bless 
'my family with all heavenly blessings; grant to 
' them that they may live in thy fear.' She said to 
the servant maid, who was not a friend, ' Remember 
€ thy Creator in the days of thy youth ; leave off thy 
' vanity before such a day as this overtake thee ; 
' I have nothing to do but to strive with this natural 
c distemper ; I loved the Lord in my young days, 
' and he kept me from many evils, and when he 
c was pleased to make known his blessed truth to 
c me, he helped me to work out my salvation with 
' fear and trembling-, that work I have not to do 
' now, the Lord Jesus Christ did it in me, and for 
'me ;' upon which the maid wept much : at another 
time, pain coming on her, she said, .' I feel I am 

* of a strong constitution, and that nature would not 

* yield to my distemper;' and prayed fervently, say- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 285 

* ing, c Come, Lord Jesus Christ, come quickly, and 

* put an end to my pain; Lord, I long to be with 

* thee for ever.' Another time she prayed, { O Lord, 
' I am the workmanship of thy hands, thou hast 
J often helped me in the time of need, for thy 
c name's sake help me now in the time of my 

* distress ; thou art my God, my hope, and my help ; 
' I will trust in thee, oh my God ! oh God ! 
1 hasten thy coming for thy Son Christ Jesus's sake.' 
Another time she said to her husband, * I have done 

* too little for the Lord;' her husband put her in 
mind of her many former services, and particularly 
'Visiting his servants when in prison for Christ's sake, 
feeding them when hungry, entertaining strangers^, 
and when sick, very tender in helping them, &c. she 
replied, * All this is too little to do for the Lord 
' Jesus's sake, who hath loved us; we must not 
4 depend upon these things, but we must depend 
6 and trust in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; 

* and when we have done all, let us account our- 
' selves unprofitable servants, for we have done but 
1 that which was our duty ;' and a little before she 
died she desired her husband to praise the Lord 
with her for all his mercies, and at this time 
that I feel his living presence to my great comfort ; 
and she prayed herself, saying, ' O Lord, thou 

* hast been a father to me, thou hast kept me from 
1 evil, and now I trust in thy great name, that thou 
c wilt not forsake me ; for thy Son Christ Jesus's sake, 

* take me to thyself.' 

And she was heard : about the sixth hour in the 
afternoon, on the First-day of the Third month, 
1705, the Lord in his love and mercy took her to 
himself, in great quietness and peace of spirit, in 
about the Ninetieth year of her age. 



286 PIETY PROMOTED. 

"jV/TERCY EMES, late wife of Charles Ernes, of 
^>X Warwick, and daughter of John Garner, of 
Kinningsworth, of the same county, yeoman. Her 
first husband's name was Charles Devale, a French- 
man, who was formerly a priest of the church of 
England, and chaplain to the Earl of Essex, but for 
conscience-sake he left that church, and joined with 
the Baptists in London ; amongst which people he 
continued until his death. The said Mercy,- before 
she was his wife, attended upon the old countess of 
Ranelagh, from which family Charles Devale mar- 
ried her : she did from a child seek after the kingdom 
of heaven, and when she was among the Baptists, 
was dissatisfied with the doctrine which she often 
heard preached of God's absolute reprobation of men; 
and upon that account sought for a people who had 
better tidings to preach ; and in her enquiry came to 
a meeting of the people called Quakers, where she 
heard preached, the " free grace of God, which 
" bringeth salvation, that it did appear to all men, 
" teaching them to deny ungodliness and worldly 
" lusts ; that we should live soberly, and righteously, 
<c and godly, in this present world, ckc. ,J * And from 
that time she (with two other of her acquaintance 
who were with her] left the Baptists and embraced 
the truth, and joined in fellowship with the people 
called Quakers; among which people she married 
Charles Ernes : she often praised the Lord for the 
knowledge of his truth, which she loved and valued 
above all outward enjoyments, and ordered her con- 
versation according thereunto, unto the end of her 
days. 

Her sickness held her about five weeks, in which 
time she said it was a good thing to be ready to die, 
and not to have that work to do when we are to leave 
the w r orld; and the Lord was large in his love to 

* Titus ii. 11, 12, 13, 14. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 2B7 

her ; for which she blessed his name in the sense of 
-hisimercy; and as her friends and neighbours came 
to visit her, she exhorted them in great love and 
tenderness, which caused much brokenness of heart 
amongst them •, one visiting her she said, ' I have a 
c love to thee, thou art convinced, but not converted, 
'hold on thy way, the Lord will do thee good.' 
Another time two friends visiting her, one enquired 
how she did, she answered, ( I am a dying woman, 
' I am going to my God, and thy God ; ' she said, 

* Why so long coming to see me ? ' he told her the 
reason, she replied, £ Thy heart is towards Sion, 

* and so is the other friend's ; keep your shoulder to 

* the-work which God hath put upon you ; hold him 

* forth to the nations ; be not ashamed of Christ, he 
c is a glorious Saviour j if I should live I must de- 
c clare it; if I live I cannot hold my peace.' And 
she testified to the sendee of womens' meetings, 
saying, ' Women have a service for God as well 
*■ as men, and womens 5 meetings are of service, 

* and this is my testimony before I die.' To a friend 
who was under some doubtful thoughts, she spake 

- by way of encouragement, saying, l Thou wilt meet 

* with many troubles, but it will be well with thee in 

* the end ; ' with more words to that purpose. She 
spent much of the time of her sickness in praising 
God. The day before she died she spake to several 
friends concerning their states and conditions in the 
truth *, she was freely resigned to die, and nothing 
seemed hard to her to part with, except her two little 
children, of whom she often said, £ My little babes ;' 
but she declared her satisfaction that the Lord would 
provide for them j (which is in part fulfilled already), 

j a few hours before she died, her husband coming to 
her bed-side, about midnight, found her pouring out 
her soul to the Lord, and she said to him, * The 
6 sting of death is taken away ; I am not afraid to 
'.die ; I have the evidence of God's love sealed to me; s 



233 PIETY PROMOTED. 

moreover she saul. c My bed is a bed of roses;" 
which expression she used several times in her sick- 
ness, so resigning her soul unto the Lord. 

She finished this life the 31st of the Eighth Month, 
1697, and was buried among friends at Warwick. 



CAR AH KIRKBRIDE, wife of Joseph Kirkbride, 
^ of Pennsylvania, and daughter of Mahlon Stacy, 
of West Jersey, in America ; she was virtuous from 
her childhood, and very dutiful to her parents, and 
an example cf piety to her latter end. She was 
taken sick the 24th day of the Ninth month, 1703, 
having then lain three weeks in child-bed ; in the 
time of her sickness she uttered many living and 
weighty expressions, desiring to be dissolved, saying, 

* I have not been afraid of death these many years ; 

* death is no terror unto me ; my God hath taken 
1 away its sting : ' she being under great weight of 
bodily affliction, and seeing her husband under trouble 
for her, said, ' My dear, if it please the Lord to 
1 strip thee of thy meet-help again, my God will be 

* thy rock, he hath been thy stay hitherto, and he 
' will never leave thee *, ' and further said, ' The 
*■ Lord will bring thee to his holy hill, and I shall 

* praise him upon Mount Sion, with the saints and 
/ holy angels.' She again said, ' I shall praise thee, 

* Oh my God, and my Christ, world without end.' 
Soon after her husband was moved to pray by her, 
that the 'Lord would be pleased to support and 
strengthen her in her distress and great affliction, 
and to bear up her exercised soul, and to make them 
truly willing to submit to his holy will, whether in 
life or death; at which words she said, 'Amen, 

* Amen.' A little after her husband asked her how 
she did, she said, ' I am sweetly comforted in my 

* affliction j the Lord is exceeding good to my soul \ ' 



PIETY PROMOTED. 289 

\*ith many more good expressions she uttered upon 
several occasions, that cannot be remembered ; the 
evening before she departed this life, some friends 
being come to see her, she said, * I am weak or* 
4 body, but the Lord is very good to my soul, and 

* hath filled me with his love -, but my bodily weak- 
c ness is such, that it renders me incapable of prais- 
c ing him as I ought to do.' And to her husband 
she said, { The Lord hath heard thy prayers for me 

* this morning, and hath satisfied my soul to the full , * 
more she said to the same purpose, taking her hus- 
band's children by the hand, embracing them, and 
exhorting them to fear the Lord, and to love and 
obey their father ; and said, * He hath been a good 

* father to you. 5 A little before she died, she said, 
4 My God, I come, I come j ' and soon after she 
departed this life, and is entered into that rest 'that 
will never have an end. 

She died the 28th of the Ninth Month, 1705, 
aged Twenty^nine years. 



Of* a Maid of Nineteen Years of Age, 

CAR AH THOMPSON, daughter of George 
^ Thompson, of Crook in Westmoreland ; she was 
a maid, who in her life-time did truly fear the Lord, 
and remembered her Creator in the days of her youth, 
and she sought the honour and promotion of truth, 
according to the measure of grace which she had 
received \ and according to the understanding God 
had given her, she was faithful, and her understand- 
ing was good, and capacity large in things natural, 
as well as religious; she took great delight in' read- 
ing the holy scriptures, and other religious books, 
and was careful to put in practice what she did read, 
and would often be speaking of heavenly tilings m 
Vol. I. N 



29© PIETY PROMOTED. 

tlie family, and exhorting to virtue and patience * 
for it was a great trouble to her when she saw any- 
impatient or in difference in the family : she was 
obedient to her parents, and very tender over them ; 
kind and compassionate to all, and was beloved of 
them that knew her \ her temper was sweet, and of 
a chearful spirit and good courage, but not rash, and 
of few words, and very careful not to give offence 
to those she was at any time in company with, who 
were not of our profession in religion, and very sor- 
rowful when she saw any professing the truth, who* 
did not walk answerable to the same. In her life- 
time she was much afflicted with shortness of breath, 
which she did patiently bear, and would say she durst 
not murmur at it, lest she should offend the Lord : 
ihe often retired alone into solitary places, and said 
that when she had been alone, and meditating upon 
the things of God, that the Lord did wonderfully 
break in upon her soul, by his glorious light, and 
good spirit, and let her see over the world, time, and 
mortality, into eternity, which appearance of his 
presence did very much affect her ; and she also said 
that the Lord had shewed her that the time would 
not be long until he would ease her of all her pain 
and sorrow, and take her to himself. Another time 
$he said the Lord was present with her, and did 
comfort her in the midst of all her afflictions, and 
did speak peace to her soul in the midst of her 
troubles, which she said did make hard things easy 
to her: she sickened the ist of the Twelfth month, 
1702. In the time of her illness the Lord's power 
and presence did attend her, and she uttered many 
weighty expressions, with wholesome counsel and 
advice, to the comfort of those about her : observing 
her friends sorrowful, she said, ' You trouble me to 

* see you so, why are you so unwise ? It would be 
4 more satisfaction to me, if you did not one of you 

• fheci a tear for rae ; mu§t we not all part ? What 



PIETY PROMOTED, 29c 

c is death a terror to ye ? It is no terror to me ; I? 
c am not at all daunted at it, for I am content whether 
c I live or die, for if I am spared at this time, yon 

* must not keep me long, having been sensible some 
f time, that I have not long to live ; cannot you freely 

* give me up, and part with me ; I am but a poof 

* infirm creature, and it will be well with me ? 1 

* shall be freed from many troubles, and from many 
c dangers, which you will be exposed unto that stay 
4 behind j for I see as long as we are here, we are 

* liable to many temptations ; I know they will be 

* exercises to you, but keep to that which is good, 

* and God will keep you, for he hath kept me many 
( a time, as I have kept my mind unto him.' Thi£ 
she spoke on the Sixth-day of the week in the after- 
noon. At another time her father and mother, and 
(wo sisters, standing at her bed-side, she said to them, 

* I must die *, and I have a word of counsel to you all; 

* be faithful to your gifts that God hath given you j 

* I beg it of you; and over-charge not your minds with 

< any thing of this world, for you see how frail flesh 
i is, and how soon we are gone \ ' with many more 
•^eighty expressions which were not remembered % 
after which she said, ' I desire you to remember my 

< words when I am gone, that it may be well with 

* you at your latter end, that you and I may meet in 

* the mansions of glory, where we may never part ; 
f and be all of you content, for it is well with me; 
*' I have made my peace with God,; and I feel nothing" 

* to rise up in judgment against m-e, for the Lord 
i hath forgiven me my sins and mine iniquities, and 

< I feel my mind is very quiet and still, and hath beeri 
' ever since I begun with this illness ; there is nothing 
4 cumbereth my mind, not so much as a temptation 

* is presented, and I have been borne over my exer- 
c cises far beyond my expectation.' Her brother 
Jsaac being from home, in the service of truth, she 
said, c Remember, my dear love to mj dear brother; 

• N 2 



292 PIETY PROMOTED. 

' if I die, tell hhn from me, that my soul is gbne. 
1 into everlasting rest, where I hope we shall meet 

* again in the heavenly joy, where we shall never 
1 part; and' said she, i I think I have done, and I 

* will take my leave of you ; ' then taking them one 
by one by the hand, she kissed them, and bid them 
all farewell ; and she said, * I do not know when my 

* Life will go, I would gladly die; ' then she prayed 
to the Lord, and continued in prayer a considerable 
time ; in which time she was very powerful, and 
was filled with divine praises, and the power of God 
Was felt by them that were present with her, and 
their hearts were abundantly comforted, and were 
made to bless the name of the Lord on her behalf; 
she prayed fervently for the preservation of those 
which should be left behind when she was gone*, he 
had kept and preserved her from the many hurtful 
things that are in this world, and that he would 
Ikdp them through their exercises, as he had helped 
her many a time, for which she blessed his name, 
and so concluded her prayer with returning living 
praises and thanksgivings unto God ; then she signi- 
fied unto them how she had felt the Lord's power to 
support her in her life-time, 'for' said she, s I have 
' often cried unto the Lord to help me through my 

* exercises, and he hath answered my prayer many a 

* time, to my great admiration:' she lay still a while, 
and afterwards began to pray again to the Lord, with 
a heavenly sweet melody, which did attend her ; 
but she spake so low, few of her words could be 
distinctly understood by them . that were present 5 
then she asked for her grandmother, who was above 
eighty years of age, who coming to her, she took 
her by the hand, and said unto her, ( Thou art now 
4 very ancient, -tire Lord hath been very merciful to 

* thee, and hath given thee many years, far above 
' what many attain .to, and if thou come short of 
f .making thy peace wkh God, thou canst not sa-y it 



PIETY PROMOTED. 293 

* was fof want of days. But see to the improvement 
% of thy gift, I beg it of thee before thy days be over, 
r that it may be well with thee at thy latter end, that 
' thy soul and mine may meet again in heavenly joy/ 
Her cousin, Robert Thompson, a young man, coming 
in. asked her how she did ; she answered, * I am a 
y passing away in peace, and so may all do that keep 

* faithful to their God \* then lying quiet, and- slum- 
bering a little, afterwards said,. i I have had a sweet 

* dream y ' her mother asked what : she answered^ 
c I thought there were four angels that were con- 
*' ducting me to the land of rest : I have had this 
c dream,' said she, ' twice over, but I am here yet, 

* I am long a going, you have waited long : ' her 
mother said, * Thy death is hard to win ; ' she said, 
f It will come by and by, I have prayed to the Lord 
c to make my way easy through death.' Her sick- 
ness increasing upon her, she grew very weak, so 
that it was thought she would not have spoken any 
more, it being about two hours before her departure, 
yet the Lord was pleased to give her strength again, 
so 'that many weighty words did proceed from her, 
to the tendering of the hearts of them that were 
about her, both friends and others •, and speaking to 
her father and mother, desiring them not to mind 
the things of this world, but to serve the Lord in 
their day, who is worthy to be served, who is the 
Lord of lords, and the King of kings ; desiring them 
to remember the words of their dying daughter ; 
exhorting to love and charity, and to be prepared foy 
their latter end, where they might meet in everlasting 
joy, never to part. "Then asking for her cousin, 
above-named, he came to her, and she said, ' Dear 
6 Cousin, whom I love as my own soul, thou art 
c young, and in the prime of thy time, see thou serve 

. * God in the flower of thy age, the Lord hath created 
4 thee that thou mightest serve him ; see thou answer 

* the end for which thou wast created •, and dea;* 

N 3 



2 9 l PIETY PROMOTED, 

' cousin, I believe the Lord hath a service for thee if 

* thou be faithful to him, and I wish well for thy 
4 soul, as for my own, desiring thou mayst be faith- 

* ful to God in thy day, that thou mayst have thy 
*■ account ready, against the day of dissolution, that 

* thou and I may meet again, where we shall live to 
c sing Hosannah to the Lord for evermore:' then 
asking for one who was related to her, she said, * I 

* have something to say to him ;' he coming to her, 
she said to him, l I remember there was a time when 
' thou thoughtest fchou should: t have died, and thou 

t under great exercise, for I believe thou hadst 

* lived a very loose life, and the Lord smote thee 

* with hjs judgments, and I remember thou maoest 

* a vow, that if the Lord would spare thee at that 

* time, thou wouhht amend and do so no more •, and 

* it pleased the Lord to spare thee ; but Oh ! ' said 
she, * hast thou fulfilled thy vow?' She exhorted 
him to more faithfulness, that he might obtain peace 
to his soul, before the day of his visitation went oyer 
his head ; and she said to her sisters, f Be sure you 

* be good to my mother when I am gone, and mind 
4 not the fading things of this world;' after which 
she spake not many words 5 but if she had been 
asked how she did, she would reply, c I am very 
4 well, and in a sweet frame ; I am going to a sweet 
4 place ! ' 

She departed the 6th day of the Twelfth month, 
beins the Seventh day of the week, about the first- 
tiour in tne afternoon, 1702. 



TAMES BAINES, son of William and Sarah Baines, 
^ of Strangerthwait in the county of Westmore- 
land, was one who began to seek the Lord in his 
young; vears ; and as he grew in sincerity and zeal for 
the blessed truth, and increased in his concern for 
the promotion thereof, some time before Ire died a 



PIETY PROMOTED. 295 

God opened his mouth in a public testimony for 
the Lord Jesus Christ and his pure religion , ifa 
which he was very fervent, having a sight how emi- 
nently God would appear for those who were faithful 5 
and he had a word di encouragement to them ; but 
sharp in judgment to the backsliders and unfaithful-: 
and although he was under much affliction, by reason 
of bodily infirmities and distempers which grew upon. 
him -, yet he was more and more devoted to truth's 
service (as if he had known that his time was not 
to be long in this world) even to within some hours 
that his last sickness seized upon him. And not- 
withstanding he was under great pain and exercise 
of body, yet the power and presence of the Lord was 
w v ith him, which was his great support and strength j 
and he often spake of the goodness of God to his 
soul, and of that inward sweetness, peace and com- 
fort, that the Lord was pleased to afford unto him in 
his great afflictions, to the great satisfaction of those 
who were present. 

He gave much wholesome advice in the time of 
his sickness to friends and others, and spake of tri£ 
prosperity of truth, and, said in particular to his re- 
lations, as followeth : c As we are children of believ- 
? ing parents, and have had our education amongst 

* friends, so I would not have you to rest contented 

* there, but be solid, and weighty, and humble your- 

* selves under the mighty hand of God ; and as yon 
c abide here you will feel the goodness of the Lord 

* to spring in your souls, to your great comfort, 

* and inward peace and satisfaction. I know our 
( natural tempers are inclinable to the light and airy, 

* like other people therefore we have more occasion 
c to be bowed and weighty in our minds.' And 
speaking concerning tithes, he desired friends would 
keep up their testimony against them; * For,' said 
he, 6 I could have slipt sufferings if I would have 
6 given way. to it, but it was a thing I durst not "do > 

N4 



*g6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

[ accounted it a great mercy that the Lord ha& 
' blessed me with something to part with for his 

* name and truth's sake.' And although he suffered 
pretty much at times, upon the account of tithes, 
yet the Lord's goodness to him did over-balance all, 
so that he had a wcrd of encouragement to others 
on that account. Upon occasion, speaking of the 
uncertainty of riches, he said, ' At some time 1 
c pursued them, and they fled from me ; ■ but this 
use lie said he made of it ; ' to conclude, it was not 
1 a city here I was to look after, but one in the hea- 

hose maker and builder is God/ This he 
as caution to others. And at several times he 
expressed Ins great peace with God here, and full 
assurance of eternal blessedness in the world to come, 
Through the atonement made by the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and the work of sanctification of his Spirit \ 
the day before he died, hearing that that ancient 
friend Anne Camm was deceased, he said c Ah ! 
' that honest honourable woman, is she gone to her 

* eternal rest before me ? I shall follow her very 

* shortly, where we shall meet never to part again.' 
Many were the comfortable expressions and season- 
able advices which he gave forth in his sickness, that 
cannot be remembered ; and as in his life-time he 
honoured the truth, so was his latter end comfort- 
able and full of peace; in which he departed thi? 
life, the ist of the Tenth month, 1705, aged Fifty- 
one years •, and was buried at friends' burying-ground 
at Sedbergh meeting-house. 

Postscript. 
The Testimony of Isaac Alexander concerning James 
Baines, in a letter dated the 8th of the Tenth 
month, 1705, who also died the nth of the 
Twelfth month after him. 

* Our truly beloved and esteemed friend James 
1 Baine? departed this life the ist of this instant^ 



PIETY PROMOTED. 297 

* and though he was afflicted with great pain, yet he 

* bore it with admirable patience ; for though I lire 

* remote from him, and notwithstanding my unfit- 
' ness, I went often to visit him, and I do not re- 

* member that since I came amongst friends, any 
c friend so universally visited by all sorts of people 
4 as he was, especially by faithful friends ; neither 

. * did I ever visit a friend in such a case, who had 
c that reach upon all sorts of people, both in the 
. c expressions that he declared in the time of his 
? sickness j and also the frame of his spirit, it was 
_ c admirably reaching and melting, beyond what I 
. ' can express ; and so continued to the end, as sweet 
.* and sensible as ever ; he died with the greatest 
( esteem and love to friends and truth, and in great 

* esteem and interest in the hearts of friends; he 

* died in a most happy and blessed condition. 

' Isaac Alexander/ 



TOXIN BLAIKLING, of Draw-well, in the parish 
** of Sedbergh in Yorkshire, bordering on West- ; 
rnoreland, was born in the Ninth month, 1625, and 
he and his wife, and his father and mother were 
people of good repute and esteem amongst all that 
knew them, being all very religiously* inclined from 
their youth, and were all convinced of the. truth in 
the Third month, 1652, by the ministry of that truly- 
honourable servant of Christ George Fox, whom 
they received into their house with joy, because o£ 
the glad tidings of salvation that he brought unto 
them ; soon after which John Blaikling accompanied 
George Fox to Furbank chapel, where many were 
also convinced of truth. About the latter end of 
the year 1654, or beginning of 1655, John Blaikling 
received a dispensation of the gospel to publish to 
the world, and was very serviceable therein to many, 
3iid soon after he was called by the Lord into ths 
N 5 



29* PIETY PROMOTED. 

•ounty of Durham, Northumberland, and the east of 
Yorkshire, where he had (and many times since, in 
his frequent visits of those places) good services, and 
with great respect received and loved whilst he lived ; 
a few years after he travelled into Scotland, visiting 
a great part of that nation, and in his return, as well 
as going out, visited the northern counties of England; 
and after it pleased God to raise up others to bear 
testimony of his truth in the meeting John Blaikling 
belonged to (and the adjacent meetings) to answer 
the service in part, which before lay much upon 
John •, he was not only glad thereof, but a great en- 
courager of them, and all others at all times, that 
came up in a public testimony for the Lord Jesus 
Christ, who is the true light. 

He also travelled into many other cities and coun- 
ties ; as at London, Bristol, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, 
Suffolk, and Essex, and most counties of this nation, 
and many times to London •, in which service he 
faithfully continued till weakness of body and old 
age prevented ; the last time he visited London, was 
when he came up to the yearly-meeting in 1698 ; 
that service being over, he visited the most of friends 
meetings in the county of Kent, and his service was 
very acceptable amongst them. 

He was endued with a great gift of discerning, of 
solid judgment, and deep understanding in heavenly 
things, (as well as in the things relating to this life) 
his ministry was attended with power, and though 
his utterance was not eloquent, yet full of profound 
and weighty matter, suitable to the several states in 
the auditory where he did minister •, he Was an ex- 
ample in a tender humble life and conversation, and 
zealous for good order in the church of Christ, as 
well as stedfast in opposing and bearing testimony 
against such as would endeavour to break unity, and 
so lead into a loose liberty, disorder, and confusion, 
as well as other evil works. It was at J. Blaikling's 
house, which is called Draw-weli, that the memo* 



PIETY PROMOTED. 299 

rable meeting was held for the endeavouring the 
recovery of John Story, and John Wilkinson, and 
others, who opposed the good order and discipline 
now established in the churches of Christ ; the said 
meeting began upon the 3d day of the Second month, 
1676, and continued four days: but notwithstanding 
the labours of many brethren met at that time from. 
divers parts of the nation, and particularly four 
friends from the city of London ; the said John Story 
and John Wilkinson continued in their contention 
and opposition to friends ; and not long after William 
Rogers published a great book against friends, which 
J. 'Blaikling, &c. answered, intituled-, c Antichristian 
6 treachery discovered, and its way blocked up >' a 
volume in folio, of about 50 sheets. 

He was a great supporter of such as were in low 
circumstances in the world, often assisted them in 
difficult cases, to the exposing himself to great 
hazards of loss ; and many times he was blessed 
with good success therein ; he obtained the blessing 
of peace-makers, being of a good understandings was 
qualified with judgment and patience to reconcile 
differences about temporal affairs, which was a means 
to bring him into many concerns of trust for orphans, 
&c. which is always attended with great care and 
trouble, and which often fell to his lot. The loss 
of him in the church, as well as among the neigh- 
bourhood is great. He was not only called to believe 
in, and preach Christ Jesus* the truth, the way, and 
the life, but also to suffer for his name's sake* not 
only by loss of goods to. a great value, but also by 
imprisonments several times at York, about sixty 
miles from his family, both on account of meetings 
for the worship of God, and in a firm testimony 
against tithes : whilst he had strength he was dili- 
gent in attending meetings-, but old age and bodily 
infirmities growing upon him latterly, sometimes 
preveuted iurn ; and several times he did express 
N'6. 



3 co PIETY PROMOTED. 

himself to friends in private the comfort that he had 
in the Lord's peace and presence with him to his 
satisfaction in his old age, and that his day's work 
was nigh done, and his reward and rest with God 
6ure : and this testimony agrees with the last letter 
that I received from him, save one part, as followeth. 

• Dear John, 
* I love thee in the truest love that springs from 
1 Jesus Christ the fountain thereof, by and in which 

* my life standcth ; though as to bodily strength and 
1 health I grow weak and feeble, but my life in God 

* standeth, whose I am, and I am comfortably con- 
w tent i I am scarcely able to walk to the door, nor 

* have I been at a meeting this several weeks, but 

* the Lord's will be done, 1 am comforted in the re- 
fc membrance of my former services for the Lord 3 

* his truth, and people, for which I want not my 

* r ward in this my old age : — Take time to read, I 
' am almost blind, yet well content. 

' J. Blaikling.' 

lie often signified his preparedness to leave this 
world, with fervent desires for truth's prosperity, 
and the preservation of unity and concord amongst 
brethren, in a faithful and steady testimony for the 
same in every part thereof, as led into by God's 
power in the beginning : not long before his death 
his ancient and intimate friend and acquaintance 
Thomas Camm being with him, he said to him, 

* Thou and I have not sought our own interest, but 
' have devoted ourselves to serve the Lord, his truth 
c and people, he is, and will be our great reward in 
' the end of all our troubles ; I am greatly satisfied 

* that I have faithfully served the Lord, and done 

* my day's work, and enjoy the earnest of that peace 

* and rest God hath laid up for his people ; and if 
6 thou and I shall never have opportunity to meet 
4 again in the outward, yet in eternity our spirits^ 



PIETY PROMOTED. 3 ©* 

ff with the spirits of just men made perfect, shall 
f meet never to part again. I pray God (said he) 
c with all my soul, if it be his will for his truth and. 
i people's sake, to lengthen thy days, and grant thee 
* that strength of body and health, that -at least thou 
c mayest be able once more to visit London, Bristol-, 
( and the southern parts of this nation, which will 
c be of great service, and acceptable unto many :' 
this he spake with great tenderness of spirit y to 
which Thomas Camm replied, c The will of the 
'Lord be done, I am in his hand:' so in much 
brokenness- embracing and kissing each other, they 
parted ; this was four or five days before his death. 
He had a short sickness, and an easy death, falling 
into a fainting fit, as sometimes before. 

He passed quietly away out of this world, without 
sigh or groan, wanting about four months of Eighty 
years, and was honourably buried at friends' burial- 
place, at Sedbergh meeting-house, the 4th day of the 
Fifth month, 1705. 



Of Thomas Gilpin, an ancient Minister of the Gospel. 

HPHOMAS GILPIN was born 111 the year 1662, 
-*- son of Thomas Gilpin, of Mill-hill, in the parish 
of Caton, near Lancaster •, his parents had five sons, 
and five daughters, whereof Thomas was youngest 
son •, they were people of good repute in the country, 
and were religious, being called Puritans, who edu- 
cated their children very strictly : after his father's 
decease, his mother removed with her children to 
Kendal, in Westmoreland, (five of her children being 
dead) and she was so zealous as to force them into 
acts of religion before they knew what they did, as 
to pray without a form, &c. Thomas being but 
about ten years of age, considered it was not rights 
for he said he knew not who to pray unto. After 



joj riETT PROMOTED. 

he grew up in mrre years, and his mother deceased, 
he ran into foolish and wanton delights, as sports 
and pastime, music and dancing. And went to 
London, to prentice to a tallow-chandler, and after 
went into the wars (being the time of the civil wars 
in England) where he was tempted into more evils; 
yet in all this time the Lord did follow him by his 
good spirit, reproving him in his own conscience for 
his sins, which brought great fear and trouble upon 
him *, but by one means or other he endeavoured to 
get over thobc convictions, and so continued a con- 
rable time striving against the good spirit of God, 
but oftentimes the Lord again did awaken him, and 
brought the consideration of death upon him, even 
in the time of sickness, and of battle, which he wa« 
often in •, then he would cry to the Lord for mercy, 
and that he would deliver him from death at such 
times, making promises of reformation for the future; 
and God was merciful and spared him, yet he forgot 
his promises and covenants, and fell into the same 
evils again ; after which the Lord brought double 
fear and torment upon him, until at last he received 
the blessed truth, as preached by the people called 
Quakers ; and in believing in and obeying the light 
and spirit of Christ manifested in his own heart, he 
came to receive power over those sins which had 
prevailed in times past over him, and so came truly 
to know repentance, and remission of sins, in the 
name of Jesus Christ the true light of the world. 
And afterwards in the remembrance of the unspeak- 
able long-suffering and mercy of God unto him, he 
said in his life-time, ' Shall it not be recorded to 
c posterity for the benefit of my children, and my 
c children's children, that it may be a warning to the 

* obstinate and rebellious, to turn from the evil of 
' their ways, whilst the spirit of the Lord striveth 

* with them, least the day of their visitation goetli 

* over their heads/ 



PIETY PROMOTED. 30* 

In 1653 Ambrose Rigg, Thomas Robinson, and 
Jane Waugh, came into the county of Oxford, to 
preach the free gospel of the grace of God , at which 
time Thomas Gilpin received their testimony ; and 
after eight or nine years waiting upon God in silence, 
God gave him a dispensation of the same gospel to 
preach to others, and he became an able minister, 
shewing himself approved unto God, a workman 
that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the 
word of truth. In which service he laboured much, 
travelling most parts of England, but chiefly in the 
counties of Oxford, Berks, and Bucks ; he was a pri- 
soner for his testimony to the truth twice at Oxford, 
and once in Newgate in London: his settlement was in 
the parish of Warborough, in the county of Oxford, 
where he married Joan, the daughter of Thomas 
Bartholomew, of the same parish, husbandman ; in 
which place he was instrumental to settle a church 
or meeting of the people ealled Quakers, which, 
remained! to this day, as well in many other parts 
where he travelled ; he was successful by his ministry 
to turn many to righteousness, and for the building 
them up, and establishing" them in the most holy 
faith. In the year 1702, and the Eightieth year of 
his age, he was weak in body for the most part of the 
winter, but complained little of either sickness or 
pain, his body gradually decaying. In the time of 
his sickness he desired one of his sons to remember 
his dear love to friends, and give them account of 
his sickness and departure. As he was zealous for 
God and his truth in the time of his health, so he 
was to his end, for he went to friends' meetings for 
the worship of God as long as he was able, saying, 

* I am willing to be a good example so long as I 

* have strength to go ;' when he was so weak that 
he could hardly go out of his chamber, he desired 
friends to meet in his room, which was not long 
before he died \ at which time he signified to friend a 



304 PIETY PROMOTED. 

that he was satisfied, that as to words he must cease, 
but this was his comfort, that he did enjoy the 
power of the word of life, which is beyond all 
words ; and exhorted friends to faithfulness, and to 
keep their meetings, and not to look out at his being 
removed from them ; putting them in mind of the 
goodness and love of God, which had been largely 
manifested both to him and them, in carrying them 
through many trials and exercises, and in preserving 
them in love and unity one with another, which he 
desired they would be careful to continue in : when 
ire had done speaking, a friend prayed, and Thomas 
Gilpin's heart was much comforted in feeling the 
presence of the Lord, as well as those who were 
present, w-.-re much tendered and broken into tears, 
and at conclusion he again recommended love and 
unity one with another; and also declared that he 
was given up in the will of the Lord, and took his 
leave of them all. This was the last meeting he had 
with friends •, but lie was much visited by friends, 
and it was a comfort and delight to him to see them, 
and sometimes it was hard for him to part uith 
them, saying, ( This is sucli a parting as we never 
■•• had before.' The Lord was very good to him all 
the time of his sickness, and did often cause his 
heart in the feeling of life to sound forth praises to 
the name of God •, and he did say he believed he did 
as much desire to die, as ever any one did desire to 
live, although he wanted for nothing in this'world j 
but said, ( I long to be dissolved, and to be with the 
* Lord, yet willing to wait God's good pleasure.' 
The day before he died, viz. the 2d of the Twelfth 
month, some friends visiting him, he desired one of 
them to supplicate the Lord on his behalf, to put arj 
end to his days, and make his passage easy ; after 
some time the friend prayed to that purpose ; when 
he had done, Thomas Gilpin lifting up his hands 
said, ' The Lord grant thy request which thou hast 



TllTY PROMOTED. 3*5 

' made -to him this day*' though at that time to out- 
ward appearance he seemed likely to have lived some 
days, yet he quickly altered, and the morrow about 
the fifth hour in the afternoon, he departed this life, 
being the 3d day of the Twelfth month, 1702. He 
left behind him three sons and two daughters, and 
all of them had children. 

He was buried honourably the 8th of the Twelfth 
month, 1702, after he had professed truth forty-nine 
years, and had been a minister of the- gospel forty 
years. 



T> ICHARD- ANDREWS, son of Richard Andrews 
>A- late of London, silk-man, and his mother one of 
the daughters of our ancient friend Thomas Gilpin 
aforesaid ; he was educated by his father-in-law 
Moses West, of Hempsted, in Hertfordshire, and 
his own mother, not only in useful learning, in order 
to his accomplishment for trade and good settlement 
in the world, but also it was their great care to have 
him brought in the way of truth. And he was put 
to apprentice in London, in the silk trade ; but after 
some years, what by the examples of others, and 
temptations of the enemy, he declined from his for- 
mer simplicity and sobriety, and good inclination 
to truth, into more liberty and vain company and 
fashions of the world, which was a grief to his father 
and mother ; he was taken ill about eight or nine 
months before he died, of a decay of nature, which 
terminated in a consumption ;, and such was the 
goodness of God to him, that he was awakened in 
himself into a consideration, of his inward condition, 
the visitation of God by his spirit being upon him, 
and he had frequent visions in the night of the near 
Approach of his latter end. And being at Hempsted 
with his father and mother, he had opportunity to 
'retire alone into private places, where he did pour 



3o6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

out his soul to the Lord in supplication, and great 
travail of soul came upon him, especially towards his 
latter end, for he was bowed m deep humility, pray- 
ing for the light of God's countenance, in whose 
presence is life, peace and comfort ; but the Lord 
was pleased to chastize him, by hiding his face from 
him for a time, yet he kept his hold, trusting in the 
Lord •, though in this state he met with many assault* 
from the devil, and temptations, to despond of God's 
mercy, now he knew what it was to read in the 
book of conscience, and for his works to go before- 
hand to judgment: now he disliked the company of 
those young men, his former companions, with 
whom he used to walk abroad in the fields, some- 
times on First-day afternoon, and neglecting going 
to meeting for the public worship of God, which 
now became a very great trouble to him, and that 
he should spend his precious time so vainly; his, 
powdering and appareling, and such like follies, he 
particularly expressed a great sorrow for, promising 
that if the Lord should prolong his days, he would 
endeavour to follow the best examples, and strictest 
way of living amongst faithful friends ; calling to 
mind, and praising the good life of his grandfather 
Gilpin ; a friend visiting him, together with the 
good advice of his father concerning the Lord's hand 
that was upon him, it being not in anger, but in 
mercy, that he might turn unto him, with fervent 
desire after him, and enjoyment of him, and when 
he should obtain, that his wants should be supplied; 
so after some time the Lord did appear in him, and 
did lift up his spirit as a standard against the enemy 
of his soul, who came in like a flood, and tempted 
him to doubt of his mercy, so that he was comforted 
like a man reprieved from judgment, though not as 
yet having a full assurance of his pardon; but a 
living hope sprang up more and more, which became 
-as an anchor to his mind ; and his company became 



PIETY PROMOTED. 3*7 

delightful, because of those serious reflections he 
made on things, and religious discourses which" he 
had with those about him : one time he said to his 
father and mother, c I will appeal to you, if you ever 
s heard me repine at the exercise and pain I have 

* went through since I have been at home, all this 

* time of my great weakness ? No/ said he, ' I have 

* desired the Lord to let me have all my punishment 
c in this life.' Indeed he was sweet and cheerful 
under all his pain, which was very great ; and he 
grew very bright and living when he had got do- 
minion over his doubts and fears. Near his latter 
end, through the prevalency of his distemper, he was 
somewhat broken in understanding, and wandered in 
his discourse, though his talk was inoffensive ; yet 
as if he had foreseen this, a little before, a kinsman 
of his, not one called a Quaker, offered to tarry with 
him, to which he shewed himself unwilling, giving 
this reason to his father and mother, saying, « May 
'* be I shall be light-headed, and ramble in my words, 
< and he or others may inconsiderately reflect upon 
4 my profession.' Though his sickness was long, 
his death was pretty sudden, having kept his bed 
but four days, in which time (whilst sensible) he 
was kept in a most sweet resigned frame of soul j 
being by his bed-side was like being In a well re- 
plenished meeting. Near his end he said to his 
father and mother, ' Do not grieve, the Lord is with 

* me,' with much more to the same purpose ; so 
lying still and quiet, he went away with a smile, and 
is at peace with the Lord. 

He died about the Twenty-first year of his age. 



-3©8 "PIETY PROMOTED. 

pRISCILLA RICHARDS, daughter of Join* 
-*■ Richards, of Howscy, near Liskard, in the county 
of Cornwall, and of Priscilla his wife, was born at 
Liskard the 1 8th of the Sixth month, 1680, and 
though educated in her father's family, who were 
mostly strangers to the living way of truth, now in 
this our age revealed, only her mother frequented 
the meetings of the people called Quakers ; yet did 
this young maiden begin recording to the advice of 
the wise man, to remember her Creator in the days 
of her youth ; and did not only come to the meetings 
of the said people, but she turned with her heart to 
the Lord, and as she came towards seventeen years 
of age, she grew in the fear of God, and in plainness 
and solidity, not regarding the gaiety of this perishing 
world, so as to set her heart thereon, but became 
very modest in her habit, speech, gesture, and in all 
her deportment, and was greatly in love with the 
company of the best friends, to whom she also be- 
came very acceptable j and though the family in 
which she lived might minister occasion to her, to 
look out at the ways and glory of this world, yet 
ihe was as one weaned therefrom, and delighted in 
retirement of spirit, and in that society which might 
be helpful to her in her way to that heavenly habita- 
tion to which she was travelling, and whereunto the 
Lord brought her in the very prime of her blooming 
years ; for she was scarcely twenty years of age 
when she was visited with some infirmities of body, 
which still drove her nearer the Lord ; and although 
she met with some exercises grievous to her tender 
spirit, yet she was resigned to the will of God. And 
about the beginning of the year 1704, it was per- 
ceived by some symptoms, that her distemper tended 
to a dropsy, in which abundance of care, both of. 
parents and able physicians was used, yet her disease 
increased, so that it was apparent some months before 
ihe died, that there was little or no hopes of her re- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 30^ 

covery, which she foresaw, yet was very well satisfied 
and resigned to the will of God, in which she had 
peace and great quietness of mind, and would ofteis 
testify as much to her mother and those about her, 
as well as friends, who frequently visited her •, for 
she having her affections drawn out of the world, 
it became easier to her to leave it. 

In a letter to a particular friend, who married hey 
near relation, written about fourteen days before she 
died, she say r thus: 

c Dear Cousin, 
* I should have given an account of my sickness, 

* but exceeding illness hindered me, and my mother, 
' what with sorrow for me, and want of time, oc- 
' casioned the same neglect. I am now very ill, 
i being swoln all over my body, except my hands and 
y arms, and am scarce able to walk the chamber 

* without help *, but I am freely given up to the will 

* of my heavenly Father, whether for life or death ; 
€ I should be glad to see any of you here, for my 

* time in this world is not like to be long ; I have 

* been a little better at my heart this four or five 
( days, but how it will please the Lord to deal with 

* me I know not; my dear love is to thee, thy wife 

* and children, wishing you health and peace in this 
c life, and happiness in the world to come, being, 
1 dear cousin, thine affectionate, &c. 

* P. Richards.* 

This was written in a time of great weakness of 
body, but her spirit was strong in the Lord, having 
kept the faith, and by it was made a conqueror. 
About which time her mother sitting by her, she 
f said, 'It is well for me that I feared the Lord in 
' my -youth, seeing old age is not like to be my lot." 

Those friends who visited her in this time of her 
Weakness, were greatly comforted -in the testimony 



gio PIETY PROMOTED. 

she gave, and Fense they had of her living condition. 
of soul, in a dying state of body. To a friend who 
said to her, * I hope, if thou dost recover, thou wilt 
' live to praise the Lord ;' she replied, ' I do not 

* desire life upon any other terms.' Her expressions 
were many and frequent as to her peace and acqui- 
escence of mind, but, her friends not supposing her 
end to be so near, were not duly written down. Her 
mother at a certain time, hearing her speaking of her 
willingness to be with the Lord, said, * What, hast 

* thou no sympathy with my sorrow and grief, at the. 
c parting from thee,' &c. she replied, ' Mother, thou 

* beginnest to grow old, and it will not be long ere 
*' we meet again in a better place, if we are found 

* doing the will of God.' And in this sweetness of 
temper she abode without relucuncy or impatience 
at her state of body, which decayed daily ; for on the 
twelfth of the Seventh month, 1704, she was taken 
with some fainting fits, which made her attendants 
stir more than usual, at which. she reviving, said, 
c Why did you not let me alone, I was very easy, 

* and in much quiet ;' and then turning to her mo- 
ther, she said, ' Time will come; do not grieve, nof 

* make the Lord angry/ And to some about her, 
< Do not leave repentance until a dying hour, for the 
1 body hath enough to do to bear its pains;' and at 
night, her father going to bed, took leave of her, she 
Said, if she never saw or spoke to him more, she was. 
well. But then her pains returned on her, yet she. 
got up the next day, but had again some such dying 
fits, however continued till the next day after, al- 
ways being very sensible, under no manner of dis- 
turbance in mind, and on the 14th of the Seventh 
month, being sensibly weakened and feeling the ap- 
proaches of death, she said, * Come, come, come, 
' why so long -,' and in a very little time after called 
out, ' Lord Jesus, receive my spirit/ and presently 
breathed forth her last, according to her prayer to 



PIETT PROMOTED. 311 

the Lord, that she might not go stupifled out of th£ 
world, for she died in full understanding, and sound- 
ness of mind, and is gone to rest in the Lord, bles- 
sed be his name for ever. 

On the 1 8th of the Seventh month, 1704, hef 
body was decently buried, from her father's house* 
in friends' burial ground in the parish of Liskeard. 

Thus we have here an example of what one of 
old said, of youth that is soon perfected, which shall 
condemn the many years, and old age of the un» 
godly. 



"WILLIAM TURNER, of Hitchih, in Hertford- 
* * shire, was one who sought after truth and 
righteousness from his childhood, and when but a 
youth complained to a professor that he much de- 
sired an inward acquaintance with the Lord, and to 
be acquainted with the spirit of God, was what his 
soul longed for ; the professor advised him to be ac- 
quainted with the scriptures, which he had done 
before, and could not be satisfied with the reading of 
what God did for his people in former ages, without 
feeling after God and knowing him for himself. 
And it pleased the Lord in the riches of his love to 
answer the desires of his soul, and to open the way 
of life, and to manifest the truth, as believed by 
the people called Quakers - 3 he was convinced there- 
of, when he was about twenty years of age, by the 
ministry of Thomas Green, and having attained to 
that which his soul longed for, viz. the true know- 
ledge of God, he presently became obedient to the 
good spirit of God, and suffered both spoiling of his 
goods and imprisonment for the truth's sake , his 
love to which he did manifest by bearing faithful 
testimony to the same. He was a man of a blame- 
less life and godly conversation, having regard to the 
honour of truth in all things, seeking the advance* 



3i2 P1ET7 PROMOTE!). 

tnent thereof over and above his own temporal in- 
terest •, he was a hearty lover of the friends of truth, 
and especially of the faithful publishers of the gospel, 
to whom his heart and house was always open to 
receive them. He was a lover of peace and unity in" 
the church, and steady in his testimony against loose* 
4iess and undue liberty, and those who opposed gos* 
pel order ; he was indeed a pillar in the church, an4 
a careful overseer of the flock, whom sometimes he 
was concerned to exhort in a brief testimony ; whic& 
being delivered in much tenderness and br.okenness 
cf spirit, was of service and comfort to the faithful 
people of God. 

He was much afflicted with pain and weakness of 
body a -considerable time before he died, but bore it 
with much patience j his wife cannot remember that 
she ever heard one unadvised word proceed out of 
his mouth all the time of his" illness ; and he would 
«ay, that his affliction was not laid upon him in 
anger, but whom the Lord loved, he chastizeth ; 
'when his wife did bewail the loss she should have of 
him, he said, i It will be better for me to go hence, 
i for I shall be at rest and peace., where there shall 

* be no more trouble.' About three days before his 
death, he called for his children and said, * What I 
% have to say, I shall speak in a few words, but re- 

* member them when I am gone ; mind truth above 

* all, and then God will bless you ! and be kind to 
' your mother, and do nothing without her advice ( 

* and do not marry to any but them that love truth 

* well.' And he charged his children to be none of 
them that strive to stay at home, but strive who 
shall go to meeting. A little before he died, he 
Said, * I find nothing but that it will be well with 
g me to all eternity.' To his eldest daughter Eliza-. 
L th, wife of John Pryor, he said, * Be an upright- 
1 hearted woman, and walk uprightly before the 
6 Lord.* 



PIETY PROMOTED. 313 

He departed this life the sixth of the First month, 
1704, in the Sixty-first year of his age, after he had 
believed in truth forty-one years. His body was 
decently buried in friends' burying-ground at Hitchin. 



PRANCIS BLAIKLING, of Winder, near Sed- 
**- berg, in Yorkshire, was an harmless man from 
his youth, born of good sober parentage; he was 
convinced of the blessed truth about the time of 
George Fox's first coming to publish truth, which 
was in the year 1652, and he gladly received the 
truth in the love of it, and faithfully walked in it, 
and cheerfully suffered for it, not only extreme spoil- 
ing his goods, but pretty long imprisonment in York 
castle; and the Lord not only gave him to believe 
and to suffer, but also gave him a part of the minis- 
try, to testify unto the blessed truth, which he had 
believed in, and to that word of reconciliation, nigh 
in the heart, in which work, according to his mea- 
sure, he was a faithful labourer, though he did not 
travel far abroad, neither was his testimony long, but 
it was very easy and comfortable to the faithful, and 
he in a plain testimony hit the mark, both in reproof 
to the wicked and comfort of true mourners in Sion; 
he was a man well beloved, and esteemed both by 
friends and others ; wherefore in the time of his 
sickness many came to visit him, who found him in 
a comfortable frame of spirit ; he patiently enduring 
those bodily infirmities which he was under, and 
much resigned in his mind to God's will, whether 
for life or death, often saying, the Lord was and al- 
ways had been very good and favourable to him, 
and he found nothing but peace to his soul from the 
Lord, and he was ready to leave this world 3 when- 
ever the Lord pleased to call him. out of it. 

And thus ia much sweetness and cheerfulness hh 
Vol. I. O 



3H PIETY PROMOTED. 

spirit was borne up in his sickness, increasing in 
sweetness of spirit, and expressions which are not 
written down, being not perfectly remembered : as 
he lived in love and unity with his brethen, so. he 
died, saying to many friends who came to visit him, 
4 Dear friend, my love and life is with thee.' 

He departed this life the 20th of the First month, 
1704; aged Seventy-three years, a believer in truth 
fifty-two years. 



An Account of some remarkable words spoken by 
Hays Hamilton, son of Hugh Hamilton, of Ire- 
land, a little before his death. Aged Twelve years. 

TTE said he had been several times in a place by 
-*- A himself, where he wished he had been for ever, 
he enjoyed so much of the comfortable presence o£ 
the Lord in silent waiting upon him, and meditating 
in his law, which drew his soul in a rapture. He 
also told his school-master, about twelve days before 
he died, the day he left the school, (as the said school- 
master, Charles Kenidg, did testify) that his said 
master should see him go no more that way, until he 
saw him carried to his burial ; his master asked the 
-reason for his saying so, he said, he knew that he 
had taken the small-pox, and that he should die of 
that disease, which accordingly came to pass about 
twelve days following. 

He hearing his mother reading the first of Cor. xv. 
50. where the apostle Paul says, " Flesh and blood 
Ci cannot inherit the kingdom of God," he asked his 
father what he thought of that saying; the father 
turned that question to his son, and asked his opinion 
of it ; he replied, as God was a spirit, that which 
was for his use, he would make it spiritual, and 
therefore no longer flesh and blood. 

He also, when troubled with several questions 



PIETY PROMOTED. 315 

£bout -baptism, he said, he could prove from Ephes. 
iv. 5. that there was one Lord, one faith, and one 
baptism ; and he said, c them that will be satisfied 

* with that of water, let them hold it ; for my part, 
' I depend nothing upon it, I depend only upon the 
. f baptism of the spirit, and I doubt there is many 

* that talks most about baptism, Knows very little 

* what it is.' 

He was taken sick, and about/a quarter of an hour 
before he died he sat up in his bed, his mother and 
sistera by him, and he asked what^day of the week 
it was ; she told him, and he asked the hour of the 
day, the which she told ; then he said, ' Heaven is 
c not far from me \ his aunt asked him if he was 
filling to leave his father and mother, and all the 
world to go to heaven ; he said, ' Yes, I am y and 
further said, * It is a sweet change/ She desired the 
J^ord to prepare him, and dear the way for him ; he 
looking sharply in her face, said, c I know the way, 

* and who hath cleared it/ And so died in peace, 
the 7th of the Third month, 1697, in the Twelfth 
year and Seventh, month of his age. 



HpHE dying words of THOMAS VOKINS, son of 

■*■ - Richard and Joan Vokins, of West Charlow, in 
the county of Berks. The day before his departure 
he prayed thus : ( Oh ! blessed God, if it be thy will 

* to take me this night, make my passage easy 5 not 
* : my will be done, thy will be done : oh Lord ! thou 

* deliveredst Jacob out of all his troubles/ 

Another time he said, ' There is a good spirit as 
c well as a bad spirit 5 and if the good spirit be taken 
c heed unto, it will be felt as strong to lead into good,. 
' as the bad spirit is to lead into wickedness/ And 
not one hour before he died, his mother and others 
being present, he said, ' Mother, the Lord is ex- 
Oi 



3 i6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

* ceedmg good to me, and hath been all along this 

* eight or nine weeks of my exercises, and when I 
1 could hardly speak, his sweet presence hath been 

* with me, and his life hath sweetly refreshed me.' 

And as his mother sat by him, she felt the power 
of the Lord, and she spake to friends in the chamber 
to be still, and this innocent young man died like a 
lamb, without sigh or groan, and those present felt 
the power of the Lord with him at his departure, 
and were greatly refreshed ; much was spoken by 
him pf the goodness of the Lord, but his voice being 
low, it could not well be heard. 

He died the 23d of the Second month, 1683. 



THCHARD VOKINS, brother to the aforesaid 
-*•*' Thomas Vokins. In the time of his sickness, 
he kept feeding in retirement within, and when he 
first took his bed he examined himself before the 
Lord thus ; saying, * Lord, have I done any thing to 
• * offend thee, have I wronged any man?' and de- 
siring the Lord would take off all reproach from off 
his people \ and during his sickness he was preserved 
in a quiet frame of mind, no impatient words coming 
from him ; expressing how the Lord had preserved 
him in true simplicity, which was his great comfort, 
and gave good advice to several who came to see 
him -, saying to them, ' It is well with me, you can~ 
1* not think what I enjoy/ In the time of his health, 
he was an humble, tender-hearted man, considerate 
of his servants and poor people that worked for him^ 
often saying that he would not enrich himself out 
of their labours j and was glad when he could do 
_good to any : one time he called for his two child- 
ren, and prayed the Lord to bless them ; his wife 
asked him, if it did not seem hard to part with 
them j to which he replied, ( No, all is well, there 



PIETY PROMOTED. 317 

* is nothing troubles me, all is well; desiring his 
dear children might take him for an example, and 
live no worse a life than he had done. After this, 
his wife said, * the Lord is able to raise thee again i£ 
i it be his will ;' he replied, ' I know he is able, but 

* he doth not intend to restore me again ;' and he 
told his doctor he could do him no good. In the 
time of his sickness, the impropriator and servants 
cleared his orchard of apples to the value of £4, for 
tithes; his wife asked if those people plundering 
them did not trouble him, he replied, * No, not at 

* all, the Lord forgive them, they know not what 

* they do.' When his wife perceived his speech to 
alter, she again asked him if he was willing to leave 
the world ; he replied, * Yes, very willing :' soon 
after his speech went quite away, and next day he 
died in peace, being the 12th of the Eighth month, 
1696. 



A brief Account of some sensible words spoken by 
Elizabeth Wills, aged about Twelve years, 
when she lay upon her dying bed. 

"PLIZABETH WILLS, daughter of Daniel and 
-*- J Mary "Wills, of Northampton River, in West 
Jersey, in America, was on the 2d of the Eighth 
month, 1687, visited with an ague and fever, which 
continuing some days hard upon her, she often called 
upon the Lord, saying, * The Lord help me, the 
* Lord ease me ;' patiently begging of God for help 
in her great exercise, and her cries were felt to pro- 
ceed from the stirrings of life. About the tenth hour 
of the sixth day of her sickness, her extremity being 
great, she desired to be remembered to her mother 
(who at that time was very ill in another chamber) 
and her mother understanding it, she came to her, 
which much satisfied the child ; and turning to her 

o 3 



PIETY PROMOTED. 






mother, she embraced her, and said, c O mother, I 
' will lie with thee / and when she had manifested 
her kindness and tender love to her"mother, for a 
little time lay still, there being her father and sister 
in the room, she raised up herself upright without 
help, and said, 'Now I am well-/ giving living 
praises and thanksgiving to God, saying, i Lord God 

* of power and glory, all power, glory and honour 
' be riven to thee for ever, Amen ', for thou hast 
' helped me, thou glorious God of life 5 thou hast 

* eased my heart, O thou powerful God of glory; 
c praises, and g'ory, and honour, be given to thee for 
' ever, Amen. O thou God of eternal glory ! what 
' shall I say unto thee ? all praises be given unto thy 
1 name, thou glorious God of life, thou hast helped 
'my soul ; praises for ever, be given unto thee for 
' ever, and for ever. Amen/ Often saying on this 
wise, ' What I speak, God gives me to speak/ and 
then speaking much more to the same effect, all 
tending to the praise and glory of God, and to the 
extolling of his great and wonderful name ; often 
saying, "'God i3 good, God hath touched my heart.' 
Thus she remained praising and giving thanks to 
God, for the space of an hour, and it grew towards 
midnight. Then she desired her two brothers, and 
her younger sister should be called, who were in 
their beds, and when they c-ame, she looked upon 
them, but still remained praising and glorifying God, 
often saying, * Now I am well, I feel no pain, I am 
' willing to live, I am willing to die ; I am willing to 
' leave the world, or I am willing to stay in the 
' world / often saying, i I am content to live or to 
' die / which expressions greatly tendered the hearts 
of all present : and again spake much, praising and 
magnifying the great name of God, to the same 
effect as before ; several times she spake in this man- 
ner, saying, ' What I speak, God gives me to speak / 
also saying, ( I did not know God would have given 



METT £ROMOT£1>. $?$ 

* me so much to speak, for I was never sensible of 
€ these things before.' Then she took her father by 
the hand, and kissed him, saying, ( Farewell, my 
' dear father ;' and then took her mother by the hand 
and kissed her, saying, * Farewell, my dear mother ;' 
and then her brothers, taking each of them by the 
hand, and kissed them, saying, i Farewell, my dear 

* brothers*,' and lastly, took her sisters by the handy 
and kissed them, saying, ' Farewell, my dear sisters £ 
her father hearing her use that expression to every 
one of them', he called her by her name, saying* 

* where is that farewell thou speakest of?' she looked 
upon her father, and readily answered, saying, * It 

* is in my heart.' 

Her speech was so affecting, that it exceedingly 
tendered the hearts, and caused tears to run much 
from the eyes of all present ; which she beholding, 
as one without all sense of sorrow, looked upon her 
father, saying, i Father, thou art troubled ;' he an- 
swered, no, he was not troubled, but glad ; saying 
it was more to him to behold her in that condition^ 
than life, or length of days. Then she said, c I am 

* well pleased/ She beholding her mother weeping, 
said, 4 My mother is troubled;' her mother an- 
swered, saying, she was not troubled, but desired 
her to be content in the will of God ; then she said,. 
c I am content." And caused her brothers and 
sisters to speak their minds one by one, of their 
satisfaction concerning her condition, which was 
done by them. She hearing their sayings, was well 
satisfied; she often said, as she was parting with 
them, c God had eased me of my pain.' And after 
a little time she talked familiarly with them, as one 
that ailed nothing; and in her discourse, spake in 
this manner, saying, ( James Martin (who was a 
c minister of the gospel) is a good man, I would 

* I could see him, but he is gone to England, I shall 

* see him no more ; and John is a good man ; ' her 

O4 



320 F1ETY PROMOTED. 

father standing by asked her what John ; and she 
said, that John who had a meeting in the barn," 
(which was John Hay ton) likewise she said, c I shall 

* see him no more-,' she also said, * Thomas Olive 
4 is a good man, and I shall see him to morrow j* 
(which accordingly she did) when James Martin 
went away, (she said) ' I am sure I cried •>' (which ' 

a certain manifestation of a secret sense the 
JiOrd was working in her, for she let none know of 
it) and said again, { Would I could see him.' Her 
father desired her to be satisfied, saying, God has 
given thee a share of that same life which James 
hath i so she mentioned him no more, but something 
further of the goodness of God to her, and spake 
of one Sarah Kem, saying, she was a good child, 
she died well. So she lay still, and after a little 
time her sense of pain came again, and then she 
called upon the Lord, saying, * The Lord help me, 
4 the Lord ease me ; ' and as it encreased, the more 
earnestly she called upon the Lord, saying, c O Lord ! 

* how shall I ascend to thee, that thou may est hear 
4 me?' and in time the Lord gave her some ease, 
and she took some rest ; and the ninth day, being 
the First-day of the week, friends coming to the 
meeting, several came to see her before the meeting, 
unto whom she put forth her hand, and tenderly- 
asked several of them how they did, but after 
meeting she seemed to be somewhat more weakened, 
and not so quick of memory, but took her leave of 
several friends, as they came to her. 

That day she several times enquired for a servant 
boy, which she knew to be negligent, and often 
would lie out all night, and at the same time was 
gone, and that night late he came again ; she desired 
to speak with him, so soon as she heard he was 
come; when he came to her, she turned herself, 
and stedfastly looked upon him, as one renewed 
with sense and strength, saying, * God gave me 



PIETY PROMOTED. 321 

c much to speak last night, and thou wast not here ; 
c and said to him, it was better for thee that thou 

* wouldest walk with God ; : and further said to 
him, ' Thou must die as well as I ; thou must go 
c to the grave as well as I, and if thou dost not do 
' better thou shalt have torment, and I shall have 
€ peace •, it would be better for thee that thou 
c wouldest walk with God, but time is past and 
( gone, and cannot be recalled;' saying to him, < Is 

* it not better for thee to do well than ill ?' her 
father standing by, asked her what she would have 
him to do then, if time were past ? she answered, 
she would have him do well, but she believed he 
would not; she then said he- might go away; and 
some time after called. to him again, saying, she 
would not have him forget what she had said to 
him. 

And on the nth of the Eighth month, 1687, she 
departed this life, having laid down her head in 
peace and rest with the Lord. 



T3ICHARD PIKE, late of Cork in Ireland, was 
•; r born at Newbury,^ in England, in or about the 
year 1627, and came from Ireland, belonging to the 
horse in the army, which were sent from England, 
for the reduction of that nation, upon the rebellion 
of the natives. While he was in the army he had 
the character of a very sober conscientious man, 
but of great courage, for which he was much 
esteemed by his superior officers. In those days he 
was accounted religiously inclined, and one who 

.sought the Lord, and the Lord was pleased to be 
found of him, and revealed his truth unto him ; 
for in or about the year 1655 the Lord sent some of 
his faithful ministers (called Quakers) unto that 

.nation, to preach the everlasting gospel, by whom 

o 5 



322 PIETY PROMOTED. 

he was convinced of the way of life and salvation, 
unto which he became truly obedient, and soon 
denied the use of carnal weapons for the destruction 
of mankind ; and in other things taking up the 
cross of Christ, despising the shame, and for truth's 
sake became a great sufferer, by patiently enduring 
reproaches, abuses and imprisonments, as well as 
loss of outward substance. And as he was a 
faithful follower of the Lord Jesus, so he was greatly 
beloved by all faithful friends who knew him; and 
his deportment, conversation and commerce among 
the world was such as adorned the blessed truth, 
being a very upright and just, as well as a very 
inoffensive man ; insomuch as his greatest persecutors 
have been heard to say, if there were any good or 
honest men among the Quakers, he was one. In 
the year 1668 he was with several friends more cast 
into prison by one Rye, then mayor of Cork, for 
meeting together to worship God; in which place- 
he got a violent cold, which ended in a flux, that 
brought him very low, the prison being thronged, 
and without convenience at that time for the sick. 
The jailor indulged him for a little time to be 
a prisoner in his own house ; after his coming home, 
the distemper increasing upon him, brought him 
exceeding weak and low, though in much pain with 
the gripes, yet very patiexit under it, and much 
retired to the Lord, and in a sweet frame of spirit. 
The Fifth-day before he died came that worthy 
mother in Israel, Susannah Mitchel, to visit him ; 
who sitting in silent waiting upon the Lord by his 
bed-side, was moved to pray, which she did with 
•great fervency of spirit ; at which time also the 
power of the Lord fell upon him in a wonderful 
manner, greatly melting and tendering his spirit, 
causing him to give forth several sweet and heavenly 
expressions ; and though he was exceeding weak in 
body, and neither able nor fit to rise out; of- bed 



PIETY PROMOTED. 323 

before, yet the presence and power of the Lord so 
strengthened him, that he immediately rose out of 
his bed (as one that ailed little) and put Wn his 
clothes, in order to go to the prison, to see and 
meet his dear companions and fellow-sufferers. His 
wife and friends present, seeing this great and 
sudden alteration, were in great hopes the Lord 
would restore him to his health again ; so he went 
abroad to prison, as one that was not sick, and had 
a good meeting with friends there; the jailor gave 
him leave in the evening to return home again, 
which he did, with little appearance of illness ; but 
soon .after his return (as one that was only raised 
from his death-bed, to give his last visit to his 
beloved friends) his distemper returned again, and 
he grew exceeding ill that night, and so continued 
growing worse till about the Third-day in the 
evening, at which time he was so bad that it was 
concluded he was dying ; and in his weak condition 
the power of the Lord came upon him again in an 
extraordinary manner, so that he was revived, and 
as one that had new life and strength given him, 
and he spake of the wonderful love of God to his 
soul, and the preciousness of truth, with seasonable 
exhortation to all that were about him. Thus he 
continued with the Lord's power upon him until the 
Fifth-day, whereon he died ; having a spirit o£ 
discerning given him from the Lord, by which he 
saw and spake directly to the inward states and 
conditions of most or all that came to visit him, 
giving counsel and advice accordingly, and in par- 
ticular to some who had been unfaithful; he spaks 
so home to their states that they were almost amazed, 
warning them to prize their time, and be more 
faithful for the time to come. He also called those 
of his children that were come to some years of 
undemanding, in particular Joseph., Elizabeth, and 
Ebenezer Pike, and gave them heavenly advice and 
06 



324 



PIETY PROMOTED. 



counsel ; and among the rest, he spake to them to 
this purpose : ' Fear the Lord, and be faithful to 
1 him, and be obedient to your mother, and then 
' the Lord will be a father unto you, and provide 
' for and bless you, and the rest of you every day, 
* and let the blessing of your dying father rest upon 
' you -,' with more that cannot now be remembered. 
It would require a volume to contain the many 
blessed and heavenly sayings and exhortations (if 
thev could be remembered) which came from him 
in the time of his sickness, especially the two last 
days of his life, some of which were taken from his 
mouth, and committed to writing by a friend present, 
and was road at his burial •, which paper is through 
some neglect mislaid or lost. 

So he quietly departed this life, and died in the 
Lord, the Fourth month, 1668, being about Forty- 
one years of age. 



rPIIOMAS THOMPSON, of Skipsen, was con- 
-*• vinced of the truth of God by that ancient and 
faithful minister of the gospel of Christ William 
Dewsbury, in the Eighth month of the year, 1652, 
and shortly after had his mouth opened to declare 
the name of the Lord and preach repentance to the 
people, and was preserved in faithfulness to the 
truth to the end of his days, not turning his back 
from sufferings, but patiently endured reproach for 
Christ's sake, spoiling of goods, with many years 
imprisonment ; and when it pleased the Lord . to 
visit him with the illness whereof he died, which 
began on the 26th day of the Sixth month, 1704, 
his heart was filled with the love of God, and he 
was enabled through the goodness of God (though 
very weak in body] to go to several meetings, in 
which the Lord's heavenly power did livingly attend 
him : on the sixth dav of the Seventh month he was 



PIETY PROMOTED. .325 

at the monthly-meeting which was held at Harpham, 
being the last public meeting he was at, where he 
bore a plain and powerful testimony to the ancient 
truth, labouring to encourage all friends to be 
faithful to God, and to be diligent in the service of 
truth, according to their several abilities, gifts, and 
endowments, that so an increase of the peaceable 
government of Christ might be witnessed, both in 
the particular and also in the general. He was indeed 
a laborious man in the work of the gospel, having 
travelled in truth's service several times through 
Scotland, and in many places in this nation ; and (as 
he said when upon a dying-bed) for many years had 
not slipt any opportunity of being serviceable. His 
testimony was plain, but powerful, sound and con- 
vincing, and severe against wickedness ; but to the 
young and tender hearted he was very loving and 
affectionate, even as a nurse that cherisheth her 
children. On the tenth day of the month, in the year 
abovesaid, being the First-day of the week, several 
friends visited him in his chamber, (he being then 
very weakj to whom he declared of the loving- 
kindness of God, and of his tender dealings with his 
soul, from his youth to that day •, and that he felt 
the Lord, who had been the guide of his youth, to 
be the staff of his old age *, and exhorted friends to 
faithfulness and confidence in God, that they should 
depend upon the arm of his power and providence 
for ever. 

On the 13th day of the month, several friends 
being with him, he said that he was content to live 
or die, as the Lord pleased, in w r hom he had peace ; 
and that he was in no doubt concerning his salvation, 
but was satisfied for ever, and could say with Job, 
the Lord had granted him life and favour, and his 
visitations still preserved his spirit : the next day, 
being the 14th, and the day of his departure out of 
.this world, he' spake little in the forenoon, being 



3 25 PIETY PROMOTED. 

under much bodily weakness and pain at times ; but 
about the second or third hour in the afternoon^ in a 
heavenly melting manner, he said, c The Lord is 

* my portion, and the lot of mine inheritance for 

* ever, I am not dismayed ;' and after a little time 
said, * I have peaoe with God 5' and after a con- 
siderable pause said, ' Since the day that the word 
c of the Lord came unto me, saying, as thou art 
c converted, strengthen thy brethren ; and if thou 
1 lovest me, feed my lambs ; I have spared no pains, 

* neither in body nor spirit, neither am I conscious 
' to myself of slipping any opportunity of being 

* serviceable to truth and friends ; but have gone 
' through what was before me with all willingness 

* possible ; and now I feel the love of God, and the 
' returns of peace in my bosom •,' which words were 
spoken in so living a sense of God's heavenly power, 
that it wonderfully broke and tendered friends pre- 
sent. Another time he said, ' The Lord Jesus 
c Christ has shed his precious blood for us, and laid 
' down his life, and became sin for us, that we 
' might be made the righteous of God in him. O 

* this is love indeed.' Again he said, c My heart is 
' filled with the love of God.' Oh the excellency ! 
1 oh the glory ! oh how glorious and excellent is the 
c appearance of God! the rays of his glory nils his 

* tabernacle :' and so he sung melodiously, saying, 
c O praises, praises, high praises, and hallelujah to 

* the King of Sion, who reigns gloriously this day.' 
All which being spoken in a heavenly sense of the 
aboundings of the sweet life of the divine and living 
word, which was with the Father in the beginning, 
mightily overcame and melted the spirits of friends. 
To a neighbour that came in to see him, he said, 
' We must put off these mortal bodies ; but to them 
that fear the Lord there is an immortal one prepared.' 
He continued very cheerful and sensible to the very 
last, and spake very cheerfully to several neighbours 



PIETY PROMOTED. 327 

that came to see him. About three quarters of an 
hour before his death, he spake to one that had been 
under a convincement several years, but had not 
been faithful, exhorting him to repent and be faithful 
to what God had manifested to him, that so he 
might find mercy -, with many more words not 
remembered, telling him that he would find it a 
terrible thing to appear before an angry God ; and 
said that he spoke to him in love, and would have 
him take it so ; and bid him remember the words of 
a dying man, and so bid him farewell. Another 
time he said to friends, ' Ye are my witnesses, 

* that I have not withheld from you the counsel and. 

* mind of God, and have laboured to provoke you to 
4 faithfulness and diligence in his service, that so a 

* crown of glory ye might receive at the hand of the 

* Lord, which is laid up in store for all the righteous, 
' and my conscience is clear in God's sight;' and 
being filled with the living power and love of God, 
he often praised his holy and glorious name ; and 
about the seveuth hour he passed away like a lamb, 
into his Father's bosom, without so much as either 
sigh or groan, and is at rest in the Lord for 
evermore. 

He departed this life in the Seventy-third year of 
his age, the 14th of the Seventh month, 1704. A 
labourer in the gospel about fifty years. 



HPHE Testimony of HUGH STAMPER, of Lur- 
-*• gan, in Ireland, near his departure out of this life. 
About twenty friends being present, he said, ( I die 
c in the same faith that I have made profession of, 
* and lived in, and suffered for these twenty-three 
' years, and I am as willing to die as to live ; all 
c the desire I have to live, is to see truth prosper, 
f and if sufferings come, I am willing to suffer for 



3 25 PIETY PROMOTED. 

€ it. There is no weight or burden lies at my 

* door. I have wronged no man, neither have I 
' been burthensome to any, but always if there was 

* any difference, I suffered wrong for peace-sake; 

* I have not oppressed any man. So, .my dear 

* friends, beware of oppression, walk in love one 

* to another, passing by infirmities, forgiving one 
c another, for even as Christ said, if ye forgive not 

* one another, how shall your heavenly Father for- 
' give you ? even as he who would not forgive 
1 his brother, missed of pardon. Keep your hearts 

* clean, and let no rottenness remain therein. 

* Keep the heart void of offence towards God and 
1 man, and when any evil doth appear, judge it 
c down with the light, and be not peevish, nor 
1 fretting, it hindereth the springs of life. Walk 
' humbly before your God, and be of a pure mind 

* to him ♦, walk in true love one towards another, 
' and stand not at a distance one from another, for 
1 envy and strife leads from God, and eats as a 
1 canker, so misses of the blessing which is poured 

* down upon the righteous, as showers of latter rain. 
' Blessed be the Lord God for ever. Bear up your 
' heads, and give not away your crowns for any 
' visible thing here below, for they are but trifles, 

* and things of no value. Dear friends, keep your 
1 crowns sure, and then you need not care what 

* scoffers, mockers, liars, backbiters and drunkards 
c say, for their way leads to hell, and they cannot 

* inherit the kingdom of heaven. 

' Dear friends, in the suffering of all things, you 
c shall come to wear the crown ; no cross, no 

* crown j take notice of that : friends, keep your 

* crown, that your bow may abide in full strength 

* in the needful time, when pains of death come 

* upon you, which will come upon all in due time. 

* Death troubles me not, for blessed be the Lord for 

* ever, the enemy durst never so much as once set 



PIETY PROMOTED, 329 

* up his head, either to twist or twine ; since I lay 
c on this my bed of sickness, there is nothing but 
f peace on every side. 

* My dear friends, I desire you in the bowels o£ 

* tender love to love one another, (and you will be a 
f comely people, and an honour to God and one 
' to another) bear the daily cross, that you may be 

* crowned when time shall be no more, and come 

* to partake of the mercies of David, viz. an ever- 

* lasting covenant which hath no end. If the 
' righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the wicked 

* and ungodly appear ? oh ! the joy and endless 

* felicity that shall be upon the righteous, and what 
' horror and misery shall be upon the wicked ! 

c And, dear friends, let not a bare profession serve 
€ your turn, for it will not stand you in any stead in 

* such a needful time as this, but walk answerably 
'to what you profess, that your bow may stand in 

* full strength, as mine doth at this time *, for blessed 

* be the name of the Lord for ever I have no more 

* lying upon me that I know of to hinder 4my 

* journey than a child. So, my dear friends, do not 

* will and run in your own wills, but wait daily 
' upon the Lord, and let your whole dependance be 
1 upon him, that you may come in at the right door, 
' for whosoever climbeth up another way is a thief 
' and a robber ; so cast your care upon the Lord* 
■ and he will in no wise cast you off, but he will 
' work in you, and for you, and you will become 

* the children of the day, and of the light. I do not 

* speak these things to exalt myself, for there is no 
4 exalting in the grave, but I must bear up my 
f testimony for God, and for his truth. Friends, 

* you know these things before ; this is to stir up 

* your minds to stand stedfast in the truth, and let 

* not your crown be taken from you. Be faithful 
in the day of small things, and despise them not, 
and the Lord will make you rulers over much, s§ 



330 PIETT PROMOTED. 

* shall you be honourable men and women, and 'he 

* will shower down multitudes of blessings upon 
' your heads. 

' O friends, I desire you again not to slight this 

' glorious day, which is now dawned, for it can be 

d no leas than salvation upon earth ; but walk 

* faithful to the receiving of your crown, and you 

i with sheaves in your bosoms.' 

[horting friends to faithfulness, and 
to be of an honest heart, and to keep nothing there 
but that which is of a right nature, saying, * Take 
' notice of my words, for they are the words of a 
' dying man, and they are very weighty j and if you 

* will not hear, you shall be made to remember 
( hereafter when I am gone.' 

And when the time of his departure came near, 
he aid, c Come Lord Jesus, come when it is thy 

* blessed will, for I am ready for thee.' 

And just before he died he sat up in his bed and 
spake these words, ' Now, Lord Jesus, receive my 
' soul into thy everlasting kingdom of glory, for thy 

* kingdom is from everlasting to everlasting •,' and so 
departed this life about the ninth of the Seventh 
month, 1676. Aged about Sixty-five years. 



pEUBEN SATTERTHWAITE, born at Skiner- 
•*-*' how, in the parish of Haukshead, in the county 
of Lancaster ; he came of believing parents, who 
used a godly care in the educating him in the way 
of truth, as professed by the people called Quakers. 
This young man had a care over his own words and 
actions, that they might become truth, and he re- 
ceived a gift of the ministry about the Twenty-third 
year of his age, wherein he did much improve 
himself until the Twenty-sixth year of his age, 
wherein he died ; in whicli time he faithfully la- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 33* 

boured in the gospel ; he travelled into Scotland ifi 
company with his friend George Knipe, who was as 
a nursing father to him, and they visited every 
meeting of friends in that nation ; and being clear 
of that nation, he came back through Northumberland 
bishoprick, and the east parts of Yorkshire, and so 
home: and in the Second month of the year 1694, 
he with his said friend set forward for London, and 
was at the yearly-meeting there, and after visited 
friends in the west of England, even to the Land's- 
end in Cornwall, and so back by Bristol •, in which 
journey he had very good success, and was much 
enlarged in his gift of the ministry ; and from 
Bristol travelled through "Wales to Lancashire home 
again ; after he travelled into Derbyshire Nottingham 
and Lincolnshire; and in the Third month, 1696, 
he travelled again into Scotland with his former 
friend George Knipe, and returned thence through 
Cumberland, which was the last jourrfey that he 
had, for he was removed out of this troublesome 
world the same year. He was' a good example and 
pattern in righteousness and holiness, and* was va- 
liant for the truth upon earth, and was of a sound 
mind, and preached sound doctrine, arid often opened 
the holy scriptures, to the edification of the hearers. 
When he was visited with sickness, which he bore 
patiently, and in the first part, he got up and 
walked about the house, but feeling himself weak 
in body he said, ' I am a poor mortal, a worm, and 
* dust and ashes •>' and though his body was weakened 
and decayed, yet he was strengthened inwardly, and 
often spake of the kind dealings of the Lord with 
him, and how mercifully he had helped him in his 
travels : his sickness increasing he kept his bed, and 
many came to visit him; to whose conditions he 
spake, to the admiration of those about him. Not 
long before he died, his sister-in-law being present, 
he said, ' Oh ! Lord thou knowest I have passed 






332 PIETY PROMOTED. 

* through many exercises for thy name's sake, and 

* thou hast rewarded me well for the same, for 

* which I praise thy holy name ;' and he said, * The 

* Lord God is my stuff, as he was to David, who 
i said his staff did comfort him.' Some young 
friends visiting him, he said, * I desire you to wait 
c upon the Lord all your days, for the promise of 
4 the Lord is to you, if you will wait upon him, and 

* Jove him to the end-,' with more expressions that 
could not be remembered : so he passed that night 
in a very good frame of spirit, breathing to the 
Lord ; on the morrow, being the First-day of the 
week, and several young people came in, to whose 
conditions he spake distinctly, exhorting them to 
remember their Creator in the days of their youth; 
though he was very weak in body, and his words 
did so affect them, that they were tendered and 
broken into tears, and divers friends present were 
much comforted thereby ; and that night Margaret 
his sister, and another frrend sitting up with him, 
he taking his sister by the hand, said, ' Dear sister, 
' tell my father and mother that I must go, I must 

* go home/ After some sight which he had, which 
brought some exercise upon him, he brake forth 
into an inward rejoicing of spirit, and after that he 
expressed the travail that was upon his mind for 
some friends and meetings in parts which he had 
visited, and prayed to the Lord to be gracious and 
merciful to them, and spoke many more seasonable 
words that are not here mentioned. And that same 
night he departed this life, being the I2th of the 
Eleventh month, 1696. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 3.33 

TOSHUA BUNION, who lived near Ipswich in 
** Suffolk in England, went over to preach the 
gospel in Ireland in the year 1696; he was re- 
markable for -his extraordinary innocency in his 
conversation, chiefly minding the discharge of his 
duty, with respect to the discharge of his ministry, 
which was edifying ; he was taken sick going from 
Dublin to the north of Ireland, and coming to 
- Bellyhagan m the county of Armagh, was so weak 
he could scarcely alight off his horse without help, 
yet his zeal was such that he bore a faithful 
testimony for truth m the public meeting the same 
day ; afterwards he went to bed, .continuing very ill 
about two weeks ; in the time of his sickness he 
was very fervent in prayer, and the day before he 
died, sitting in a chair, desiring another to be set 
before him, on which he leaned, and prayed fervently 
jmd powerfully to the Lord. And the next day 
departed this life, the 23d of the Fourth month 5 
1696. Aged about Forty years. He was buried in 
friend-s burying-place near Ballyhagan aforesaid. 



pETER FLETCHER was born near Parsey, m 
A Cumberland, in England, and educated in the 
profession .of truth. He came over to be an 
apprentice in Dublin; after he had served his ap- 
prenticeship he settled in the said city; he was of 
a good conversation, both in respect to his Christian 
duty towards God, in duly attending meetings for 
the worship of God, and other religious performances, 
and ready and cheerful in doing those offices of 
love which we owe one unto another. About three 
years before his death the Lord was pleased to call 
him into the ministry* in which he was sound and 
deliberate in his delivery, being careful to minister 
from that ability which God had given him. He 



334 PIETY PROMOTED. 

was under weakness of body some months before 
his death, in which time he spake of the Lord's 
dealings with him, and how he inclined his heart to 
seek him when he was young, and had preserved 
him all along to that day, in a sense of his goodness 
and power which had preserved him, so that he 
v. is iVeeiy given up to the Lord's disposing, and 
gather willing to leave the world than stay any 
long r therein, if it were the Lord's will ; and 
further said he found nothing but sweet peace to 
abound in his heart from the Lord : and so being 
prepared for his latter end, lie departed this life 
in Dublin, the 29th of the Fourth month* 1698. 
Aged about Thirty years. 



A 1 



BRAIIAM FULLER was convinced of the 
truth in or about the year 1 660, being about 
the Forty-first year of his age ; he lived most of his 
time after his convincement at Lyhcnsa in King's 
county ; he feared the Lord, and was a serviceable 
man on several accounts in the church of Christ, 
nnd bore a testimony for the truth, and was a free 
and open-hearted man to his friends, distributing of 
his substance unto those that were in necessity ; 
he was taken sick about the beginning of the Eighth 
month, 1694, of an ague and cholic. 

In the time of his sickness he expressed his concern 
for the prosperity of truth, and sent to speak with, 
some that made profession of it, and did not walk 
answerable thereto, and did admonish them to repent, 
and amend their lives. He was often in his illness 
in supplication to the Lord, and in returning praises 
to him for his mercies which he had received from 
him j about the 4th day of the Ninth month, most 
of his children being about him, and sitting a while, 
In silence, he then prayed the Lord, that he would 



PIETY PROMOTED. 335 

bless his children, and preserve them from the evils 
that were in the world. One day having a pretty- 
sharp fit of the ague upon him, his daughter-in-law 
that tended him said, ' Father, the fit thou hadst 
c yesterday went away easily ; ' he replied, ' Yes ; 
c the Lord's power took the pain away.' He gave 
his children good counsel and admonition, according 
as he had a sense of their states. He often in the 
time of his illness expressed how good the Lord was 
to him ; six days before his death, being gone to his 
bed at night, he desired to speak with his children 
that were in the house, there being two of his sons, 
and his son's wife ; and after they had sat a little 
time silent by his bed-side, he said he had a desire 
to let them know, that if the Lord had no further 
service for him to do, he was willing to die ; anci 
then spake to one of his sons, giving him good advice 5 
and then called to his other son by name, and said, 
* The Lord make thee a sanctified vessel fit for his 
I use.' His eldest son, who living near a mile off^ 
being newly recovered out of a fit of sickness, came 
to see his father, and when he was about to take 
leave of him, which was but about two hours before 
his death, he spake to him, admonishing him to take 
care of his soul, for it was of a great value ; he desired 
several times in his sickness, that if it were the Lord's 
will that he might be sensible at his departure, and 
have an easy passage - 7 and his desire was answered, 
for in less than a quarter of an hour before his 
death, he laid his hand on the bed-side, and turned 
himself, and desired to be a little raised in his bed ; 
and so departed quietly, and finished his course about 
the twelfth hour at night, on the 4th of the Tenth 
month, at his son Isaac's house at Lismina, and was 
buried at friends burial-place, at the Moat a Green. 



336 riETY PROMOTED. 

Of ROITERT BARCLAY, of Uric In Scotland., 

* I 'HIS worthy man of God, whose character it 

-■- written (as well for their example and encou- 

ient that have or hereafter may receive the 

eternal truth, in which lie lived and died, and lires 

for ever as for a testimony to the power and goodness 
of God, in raising him up to his church, and to his 
lasting memorial in the churches of Christ, which is 

I for ever. The said Robert Barclay was the 
son of colonel David Barclay, descended of the Bar- 

of Mathers, in the kingdom of .Scotland, an 
ancient and honourable family among men, and of 
Kathertne Gordons from the Gordons of the house 
oi the duke of Gordon. He was horn at Edinburgh, 
in 1648] educated in Trance, had the advantage of 
that tongue as well as the Latin ; he returned to 
Scotland about 1664, being sixteen years of age, 
where by the example and instruction of his honest 
and worthy father, that in his absence had received 
the everlasting truth, and his conversation was with 
other servants of God, he came to see and taste an 
llency in it, and was convinced thereof about the 

1 66~, and publickly owned the testimony of 
the true light, enlightening every man, and came 
early forth a zealous and fervent witness for it, en- 
during the cross, and despising the shame that attended 
his discipleship, and received the gift of the ministry, 
is his greatest honour, in which he laboured to bring 
others to God, and his labour was not in vain in the 
Lord. He was much exercised in controversy, from 
the many contradictions that. feM upon truth, and 
upon him for its sake, in his own country chiefly, 
in which lie ever acquitted himself with honour to 
the truth, particularly by his Apology for the Christian 
divinity professed by the people called Quakers, which 
contains a. collection of our principles, our enemies 
objections, and our answers augmented and illus* 



PIETY PROMOTED. 337 

trated closely and amply, with many authorities for 
confirmation ; and he wrote divers other books which 
are printed (and make a volume of nigh two hundred 
and thirty sheets) which contain many standing book£ 
of sound judgment, and good service to the truth and 
church of God. He travelled often in Scotland and 
England, and also in Holland and Germany, to spread 
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He loved the 
truth, and the way of God, as revealed among the 
people called Quakers, above the world, and was not 
ashamed of it before men, but bold and able ia 
maintaining it, sound in judgment, strong in argu- 
ment, chearful in travails &vA sufferings, of a pleasant 
disposition, yet solid and plain, and exemplary in his 
conversation ; he was a learned man, a good Christian, 
an able minister, a dutiful son, a loving husband* 
a tender and careful father, an easy master, and a 
good and kind neighbour and friend : these eminent: 
qualities in one who had employed them so service* 
ably, and that had not lived much above half the 
life of a man, having out-lived his father but fouf 
years, and died at least thirty years short of his age,, 
aggravates the loss of him. 

His sickness was short : our friend James Dickiiv. 
son, 'of Cumberland, in his travel into that nation, 
visiting him when on his death-bed, as he sate by 
him, the Lord's power and presence bowing their 
hearts together, and Robert Barclay was sweetly 
melted in the sense of God's love, and with tears 
expressed his love to all faithful brethren in England, 
who keep their integrity to the truth; and added, 

* Remember my love to friends in Cumberland, and 

* at Swarthmore, and to dear George, 5 meaning 
George Fox, c and to all the faithful every where j ' 
and said^ * God is good still, and though I am under 
' -great weight of sickness and weakness as to my body, 
"* yet my peace flows, and this I know, whatever exer- 

* cises may be permitted to come upon me, it §haU 

Vol. I. P 



33 3 PIETY PROMOTED. 

« tend to God's glory, and my salvation, and in that 
■ I rest.' 

] I • died at his own house in Urie, in Scotland, 
the third day of the Eighth month, 1690, leaving 
behind him seven children, four sons and three 
daughtl 

I' - .. I :■•-' 16+8; convinced of truth 1667; 

his first book for truth 1670 ; and his notable 

ear of his age, 

He died in the Forty-second year of his age. 



TJANNAH TURNER, daughter of Thomas 
-*-■* 1 uraer, v( Coggeshall, in the county of J 
in visiting her acquai taken sick at Gous- 

n-haU, in th«- said county, and quickly 

1'oiild die •, her 
. » deired her tQ bear it with 
. im-mber h wjth Abraham, 

and with m 1 « ... our day, in parting with 

their only child ; ' Dear mother, consider, it may be 
*■ this great trial may move to our sanctification, 
' bear it with patience ; ' and for several days she 
lay in a composed state, praying to the Lord to for- 
give her oTnces. She was troubled she was so far 
from her friends and neighbours, and would have 
been glad to have seen them ; she expressed her con- 
cern for an acquaintance of hers, intreating her mo- 
ther to say this to her as followeth : ' Consider my 

* death as a precedent, and remember she must come 
c before the bar of the great God, as well as I, and 

* can no way shun it j and how doth she think to 
'stand there without great repentance.' Another 
time she desired to have her love remembered to 
friends at London, and ordered the manner of her 
burial. Her father coming off a journey to see her, 
she said, ■ Dear father, how often have I been com- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 339 

6 forted-to consider how the Lord hath preserved thee 
£ through many jeopardies of thy life, both by sea 

* and land/ She also admonished her nurse not to 
go into jollity and pastime, nor be ashamed of the 
cross of Christ; what if people mock thee, be not 
ashamed ; remember Solomon's words, that i( know 
" then for all these things God will bring thee into 
" judgment;" with many other exhortations she 
gave to this lass, saying ' take notice of what I say ; ' 
to which she answered, breaking forth into weeping, 

* I hope I shall.' At other times she spake several 
weighty and seasonable exhortations, which are not 
taken down, and so passed away,- inwardly breathing 
Unto the Lord, which was a comfort to those with 
her; and died on the 8th clay of the Twelfth month, 
1705, in tire Nineteenth year of her age. 



T^HOMAS UPSHER was born in the parish 
A of Lexden, in the borough of Colchester, in the 
county of Essex, and was sprinkled or baptized, as 
they call it, a few days after, according to the manner 
of the church of England, the nth of the Sixth 
month, 1672, but was educated in the Presbyterizn 
way, and was religiously inclined from his youth, 
often seeking the Lord for the good of his soul, and 
delighted in reading the holy scriptures. About the 
fourteenth year of his age he left the Presbyterians, 
and joined himself with the people called General 
Baptists, and was zealous in that way, and became a 
preacher among them when young, and was well 
esteemed by them, until it pleased the Lord more 
effectually to visit him by the light of Jesus Christ, 
unto which he turned his heart,' and came to see the 
emptiness of his former professions and talk of reli- 
gion, without the knowledge of God and Christ 'by 
the revelation of the Spirit. 
Pa 



340 PIETY PROMOTED. 

A few days after he was convinced of truth, he 
writ a letter, which was sent to tire Baptist meeting, 
to be read en the First-day of the week, shewing the 

why he left them 5 this letter was dated the 
13th of the Ninth month, 1692, so that he was 
twenty years of age when he came among the people 
called Quakers, and was a diligent attendee of the 
meetings of that people for the worship of God, 
Waiting upon him in silence and retirement of mind, 
for his teaching and counsel] until he was pleased to 
give onto him a gift in the ministry, which he re- 
ceived in great humility, and entered upon his minis- 
try, in speaking a few words amongst friend -;, in 
much fear and tenderness, to the comfort and refresh- 
ment of many, and God in tender mercy did in- 
crease his gift, so that he became an able minister 
of the gospel, to the turning cf many from darkness 
unto ' 9#s and in that service lie 

travel led in most parts of this nation of England, 
a:ui also ii: Ireland. 

he often in the time of his health remembered 
and spake of his death, so he did it in his sickness, 
saying, * I do not expect to live Jong in this world, 

* I have been preparing for a better ; I do not desire 
' to live here on my own account, I long more and 
' more to be at home with my God, yet I would not 
c be of that sort to desire my reward before my work 

* is done *, there is nothing here can invite my stay., 
1 but if God hath further service for me in this 
' world, I am resigned and given up to his will.' 

In a letter to a particular friend, writ in the time 

of his sickness, he expressed himself in these words : 

4 "When I consider those many unaccountable 

* changes, which we, and ours, and all we have in 
1 this world are subject to, it seems a sufficient anti- 

* dote against the inordinate love of it, and it appears 
4 to me, that it is the want of due thoughtfulness 
£ which makes many so much engaged in it, as 



PIETY PROMOTED. 341 

* almost wholly to sequester all those religious en- 

* deavours which are really necessary to make sure' 
4 of an eternal interest. 

c It is now a long time since I have enjoyed one 
€ day of perfect health as heretofore ; I consider it 
' as a preparatory summons from this frail state of 

* life ; and to conclude, I thank God, I am not alto- 
4 gether unmindful of my duty, in setting my house 

* in order against the time shall come that I must 
s die and not live ; I hope to live in a far better state, 

* and there to enjoy all the generations of the just 
' that are gone before, and shall hereafter follow.' 

About the same time, several friends being with 
him, he, speaking of his death, desired they might 
bear him witness, saying, ' My dependaiice, hope, 

* and trust, is only and alone in the Lord Jesus Christ, 

* and that I do not value myself upon any qualifier 
1 tion or endowment, but lay all down at the feet of 
' Jesus, and am as nothing before hircu! About two 
days after, though weak in body, he was carried in 
a coach to Ipswich, to the burial of a friend ; and 
when he came there, he seemed very unfit for the 
service of the day, there being much people at the 
burial; but the Lord strengthened him to declare, 
as at other times, the truth and word of life for about 
an hour and half, which much affected the people in 
general; and friends, who knew his weakness of 
body, admired the love and goodness of God to him ; 
he prayed also, and spake at the grave some time, 
and appeared stronger after the meeting than before, 
and continued better a few days after ; but his sick- 
ness returned again, and he was very patient under 
the extremest pains, which he said no tongue could 
express, desiring to be resigned ; and the Lord blessed 
him with resignation, faith and patience, under all. 

To a friend that came to visit him, who made 
some observation of the prevalency of his distemper, 
he said, f Now, in all likelihood, I am about to tabe 

P3 



PIETY PROMOTED. 

1 my last leave of you all, and I pray God from my 

rt to bless you/ Many sound expressions weie 

n to those who visited him in his sickness; 

to some, counsel and advice ; to others, his o\\ n 

rience of the mercy and goodness of God. 

Being desired to send for another physician, he 

1 . , I am satisfied if Ciod had 

i id amen to means, there has 

ed for my recovery, and 

' therefore I shall have my eye only to the Lord 

* for help.' At another time he said, * My tongue 
' is not able to express what I feel of the love and 

* goodness of God now when I have most need of 

* it; that Baying used by that plain despised people 

* is very true, tl better than words. There 
4 is one thing I cannot find out, why the Lord 
1 should to abound in his love and mercy to me, 

rorthy of the least of his mercies. 3 
Ti. re was a great refreshment felt many times in 
being with him in silence, in time of his sickness. 
On a First-day in the morning several friends being 

.. he desired that they might wait 
upon the Lord together; and the Lord was pleased 

* • pen Ins mouth to praise his holy name. Al- 
though ver . some friends desired him 
to say little to those who came to visit him, his 
answer was, 4 I know not whether I may have 
c another opportunity to do it.' And he remembered 

ithful, and spake of their blessed estate; at 
the sight of which, he was even as it were in a 
rapture of joy, praising the Lord to the comfort oY 
those present, saying, * Oh ! that I might declare 
' of the wonders of the Lord that I have seen 

* in the deeps, but I am resigned to the 'will of 

* the Lord." His pains and exercises were very 
great, and, as he often said, unknown, yet he also 
said, ' The Lord is very good to me, and bears up 

* my spirits m the midst of them all;' and taking 



FTETY PROMOTED; 343 

leave of several friends who visited him, 'he saia, 
- Oh ! that you may so live, that we may mc.^:; 

* again in the mansions of eternal rest.' He re- 
membered his dear love to friends every where, 
saying, ' They are near my life, I have true unity 
c with them in spirit.* Ac another meeting in his 
chamber, abost fourteen days before he jdied, the 
state of the church, -arid of many precious truths 
was opened unto him, and in a heavenly frame of 
spirit he spake of the wonderful wisdom, love, and 
goodness of God, exhorting friends to be more 
faithful and diligent in the service of the Lord. 

About ten days before his death, finding himself, 
as he thought, somewhat better, he went to the 
meeting, being the First-day of the week, and prayed 
fervently in the forenoon-meeting, praising the name 
of the Lord, in a -true sense of his mercy and 
goodness. But in a day or two he altered much, 
his distemper prevailing upon him j he desired to 
be" carried decently to his grave, saying, * I love 
' decency, and desire to die in great humiliation, 

* and commit my spirit into the hands of the Lord 

* Jesus Christ.'' And about the time of his death, 
he was in it heavenly 'frame of spirit, and spake of 
a glorious meeting, and said, * The Lord in the 
'riches of his mercy will keep all them that trust 

* in him, under all- their trials to the end.' And so 
departed this life' the 10th of the Eighth month, 
1704*' Aged Thirty-two years Two months. He" 
left behind him three children, and his wife big with, 
child, who in the time of his sickness was much 
indisposed,; which was an addition to his exercise, 



?4 



3+4 PIETY PROMOTED. 

Of a young Maid of about Fourteen Years of Age. 

pRISCILLA CUTHBERT, born at Brentford, 
•"*■ in Middlesex, in 1697, daughter of Thomas 
and Isabella Cuthbert, of the same place; some 
months before her sickness, she was observed to 
have a religious concern upon her mind, and did 
from the rest of the children, and denied 

If diversions among them, and got into solitary 
d read in good books, and sometimes 

ing by herself, and other times praising the 
Lord; and she had a sight of her death before she 

ted, and Spake of it to several ; when her siek- 

came, which continued three weeks, she bore it 
with much patience, praying to the Lord to be her 
comfort, and said, l I hope the Lord will comfort my 
4 dear father and mother ; ' acknowledging the labour 
and tender care and cost which her parents had beea 
at for her bringing up, and education of herself and 
sisters and brothers; and when her father came to her, 
upon her enquiry after him, she laid her arms about 
his face to wipe off the tears, and said, ' Lord 

* comfort my father and mother, and bless my poor 

* sisters, and my brothers ;' and gave good advice, 
to her brother to obey his parents, and fear the 
Lord, saying he will bless thee; and she said to her 
father, * I am willing to live to praise the Lord, and 

* I am willing to die, if it were at this moment of 

* time/ And she desired that when she was buried 
none that laughed or was vain should be there, but 
such as feared the Lord ; and in a sweet frame of 
mind praised the Lord. Another time she said, 
' I have in the time of my health been afraid when 
1 I have seen any dead nailed up in their coffins, but 

* now the Lord hath taken away that fear, blessed 

* be his name ; and therefore take you notice that 
' stand by me, that I am neither afraid of death nor 

* the grave, but I am willing to die when it pleaseth 



PIETY PROMOTED. 345 

' the Lord*,' and soon after fell asleep. She often 
prayed for her parents, to whom , she expressed 
more than ordinary affection and regard to their 
love and tenderness to her, expressing her willingness [ 
to die, and her comfort in the Lord •, her school- 
mistress visiting her, she said, ' I am going where 

* I trust in the Lord I shall have rest, for the Lord 

* is my rest.' Near her end, her father speaking of 
his purpose to stay with her that night, she replied, 

* No, no, for I shall not die this night, though it 
c will not be long before I do ;' and he went to 
bed : and the next day her father coming to her, she 
having had some rest in the night, she praised the 
Lord ; a neighbour present supposed she might, by 
her praising God, disturb her father, to which she 
made no answer, till some time after, she said, < Is 
4 my father disturbed at my praising the Lord ? no,' 
' no, I know he is net ; indeed if I was dying, as" 

* some have done of late, rending and tearing with 
( bad words, my father and mother too would have 

* great reason to be troubled, but to have a child 

* die in the Lord, I hope great is their comfort, and - 
' I know their trouble is mixed with joy, blessed 

4 be the Lord for it % 7 upon these words several young 
women present broke forth into tears. About two 
hours before she died, her father asked her if he and 
her mother should turn her to see if she could have 
a little rest, she answered, ' Do what you please ;* 
a friend present advised all to be quiet and still, - 
and in a little time hearing one weep, she said, 
6 Who is that, my sister Elizabeth ?' reply was made 
no ; she replied, c For the Lord's sake do not cry 
6 for me, do not cry for me;' these were the last 
words she was heard to speak : and so departed this 
life without sigh or groan, about the ninth hour of 
the sixth day of the Sixth month, 1701, in the 
Fourteenth year of her age. 

P5 



346 PIETY PROMOTED. 

■pUZABETH WHIDDON, wife of Henry 
J - J Whiddon, of Cork, in Ireland; she was from 
licr childhood given to sobriety, beyond what was 
common in one of her years, when she was about 
Fourteen years of age, and was a woman of an 
exemplary life and conversation: she was called 
oi the Lord to give testimony to his name and 
truth, though she was backward and unwilling to 
be concerned in so weighty a work, yet afterwards 
more strong, and did declare of the wonderful 
things of God. In the time of her sickness she 
did enjoy great refreshment from the presence of 
the Lord, which did tender the hearts of friends 
nt, and caused her to praise and magnify the 
it d oJ her salvation, some days before her death. 
1 Eer brother, Joseph Pik<-, visiting her one morning, 
liring how she did, she said, * Oh ! dear brother, 
' though I have not slept all this night, yet I am as 
wants it not} though my body is ex- 
1 trabrdinary weak, yet I am strong, the power of 
i the Lord carrying me over all weakness*, but 
( above all, the Lord said this night to me, in the 
' powerful and fresh openings of life, " Thou shalt 
,c praise me in the heavens:,'*' which hath so over- 

* come my soul, and raised my spirits, that I am as 
4 one that wants no sleep, or sensible of pain or 
•" weakness;' and so went on in praising and mag- 
nifying the Lord, with many good expressions that 
cannot well be remembered. About a day before 
she died, observing her sister Elizabeth Allen to 
weep, she looking upon her with a composed 
countenance, said, 'Sister, why dost weep?' she 
answered, being unwilling to part with her; she 
replied, i Oh ! I shall go to everlasting joy and 

* felicity, where I shall be at rest.' 

She departed this life the 23d day of the Fifth 
month, 1693, to receive the recompence of reward, 
even a crown eternal, of which she had received 
before- hand a full assurance. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 347 

"OOBERT SANDHAM, born near Petworth, in 
Sussex, in England, was convinced early of 
truth at Youghall, hi Ireland, where he then dwelt, 
and he soon became a faithful follower of it, and 
sufferer for it, bearing a stedfast testimony to it 
against its opposers ; and he was a preacher of it in 
his life and conversation amongst the inhabitants 
of that town, until the end of his days. He lay 
sick two weeks, in which time he often exhorted 
friends that came to visit him to be faithful to the 
truth j and to some negligent therein he said much in 
warning them to be no longer so, but to hasten out 
of a luke-warm state, lest the portion thereof should 
be theirs. Some relations and neighbours visiting 
him he exhorted them to receive the truth, f For/ 
said he, c I bear my testimony now on my dying- 

* bed, that it is the truth which the Quakers profess, 
f therefore be faithful to the Lord and his truth," 
c whilst you have health and strength, and delay not 
? till yoUfCome to a dying-bed, as too many are apt 
e to do, for then oftentimes men and women find 

* it enough to bear their sickness and pains -, ' which 
affected most present. 

To his wife, with whom he had lived about twenty- 
four years in much love, he said, * I am freely given - 
c up to the Lord's will, I therefore desire thee also 

* to give up, and bear my death with patience, and 
' the Lord will make up thy loss of me in being near 

* unto thee.' He often exhorted his children to love 
the Lord and -his truth, and be obedient to their 
mother, and love one another, and all honest friends, 
and delight to go to meetings. One of his children 
being of age to remember what he said, he said to 
her, * Tell thy two young sisters when they are 

* grown up, that it is my charge to them so to do, for 

* they may not remember what I say to them now, 
s and the Lord will be a father to you, and a husband 
' to your mother.' Seeing one of them crying, he 

P6 



348 PIETY PROMOTED. 

said, * Be good children, love the Lord, and obey 

* your mother, and though I am taken away, you 

* will have your mother left with you, and she will 
' take care of you;' and quickly after he drew nigli 
his end, being in a sweet frame of mind, resigned up 
to the Lord's will, often speaking of his mercies to 
him, he said, * The Lord hath fully satisfied my de- 

* sirea ;' and took a solemn farewell of his wife and 
children : a friend being present, prayed to the Lord 
to be near him in that present exercise, and make 
his passage easy •, after which he took the said friend 
by the hand and expressed his great peace and satis- 
faction, and passed away, being sensible to the last. 
lie died the iSth of the Eighth month, 1 675. 



T^EEORAIISAXDirAM,wifeofRobertSandham 
•*-* aforesaid, was born near Youghall, in Ireland; 
she received truth soon after her husband, and was 
a faithful serviceable woman to her end, bearing a 
true and sound testimony for God and his truth, and 
was very exemplary in conversation. She survived 
her husband about twenty years, taking due care of 
her children', which fulfilled their father's dying 
words to them. When it pleased the Lord to visit 
her with the sickness whereof she died, she perceiv- 
ing one of the family to be much concerned at it, 
said, ' Be not concerned, I am freely given up to the 
4 will of the Lord, either to live or die *, if the Lord 

* have any further service for me, he can lengthen 

* my days, if not, I am freely resigned to his will.' 
She was often in her sickness inward with the Lord, 
being kept in great patience and quietness, exhorting 
friends, and inviting some of her relations and neigh- 
bours that came to visit her, to receive the truth ; 
also warning some unfaithful ones, not to let slip the 
day of their visitatioa. : she also exhorted her children 



PIETY - PROMOTED. 349 

to mind her frequent advice and counsel to them, 
and to fear the Lord, and keep out of all that which 
grieves his righteous spirit, as (said she) your dear 
and tender father on his death-bed exhorted you, 
even so do : love the truth, and love one another, 
and then the Lord will be a father to you, as truly 
he hath been a husband to me ; and my desires have 
been, and are still, that you may fear and love the 
Lord, and reverence him, for your mother doth not 
die without a hope, that the Lord that hath begun 
his good work in you, will carry it on, and that the 
blessing of the Lord will rest upon you, which is 
more than all visible things, as my soul hath been a 
witness of, as my mind hath been kept from coveting 
after them, having seen, that godliness is great gain, 
and in the gain of it is great peace. One of her 
daughters not being with her in the time of her sick- 
ness, she desired to be helped up, that she might 
write a few lines with her own hand, as her last 
words to her, which was as followeth : * I not know- 
4 ing as yet, whether it be the will of my heavenly 
4 Father to finish my days, I am, through the great 
c mercy of God, freely given up ; Oh ! this I have 

* in my heart to say to thee, be faithful, be faithful, 
4 and dwell in holy patience ; and the same is to thy 
4 husband : Oh ! that you may come to holy silence 
4 with fear and dread, then will the work of the Lord 
■' prosper, which is more than all works : thou hast 

* many of my exhortations, which get together, and 
' keep and mind, and the God of peace support thee -, 
4 thou not being in a condition to come to me, so 
4 farewell in the Lord." The day before her de- 
parture, she was fervent in prayer to the Lord, that 
he would bless his people, and enable them to walk 
faithfully before him, and that his truth might pros- 
per, and that he would please to raise more faithful 
labourers for the gathering many more unto righ- 
teousness j also that he would be pleased to bless her 



3,-3 PIETY PROMOTED. 

children, and their offspring, and make them his ; 
with much more which cannot be remembered : now 
the day she died, she said to one of her daughters, 
' Thou art my first-born, and always very dear to 

* me, I cannot now say much more unto thee, but 

* mind my former exhortations, and remember that 
' truth was more than all, and truth was over all 
' with me, and truth was thy mother's chiefest 
1 treasure;' often saying, ' My dear child give me 
4 up, give me up, intreat the Lord to enable thee to 

* give me up, for I am freely given up to the Lord's 

* will ;' and taking her last farewell of her children 
nnd grand-children, with friends and the family, she 
desired to have her dear love remembered to friends 
•at Cork, and elsewhere; my love also (said she) ex- 
tends farther, to all friends in England; some time 
after turning herself about in her bed, said, c I am 

* now a going to leave you/ And so she quietly, 
and in great peace, departed this life the 15th day 
of the Fifth month, 1695, in Youghall, where she 
dwelt. 



'pmYARD PARKER, of Thornbury, in Glou- 
-*-^ cestershire, was convinced of the blessed truth 
by John Audland and John Camm, at their first 
coming into those parts, which was about the year 1 
1654. He bore a public testimony for truth, and 
continued faithful to his death ; and on his dying-bed 
gave very living testimonies to the truth, to many 
friends and others about him. His last words were, 
'Lord come, thy servant is ready:'" and then de- 
parted this life in the year 1667, in the Fiftieth year 
of his age. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 351 

pLEANOR CANNINGS, wife of Joseph Can- 
-^~ J nings, of Thornbury, in Gloucestershire, was 
convinced by John Audland and John Camm about 
the year 1 654, when they came into that county. 
She was a zealous woman, and often exercised in 
bearing a faithful testimony for the truth against the 
priests, for which she suffered many and great abuses 
from the rude people ; she continued a sincere- 
hearted friend to the end of her days, and on her 
dying-bed gave many good exhortations to friends 
about her, saying a little before her death, ' I am 
6 well satisfied, and am going to a better habitation.' 
She was buried at Hasel the 19th of the First 
month, about the Seventy-third year of her age. 



W 



TENRY PONTYN, of French-Hay meeting, was- 
L a faithful labourer in the ministry. of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, as well beyond sea, as in this nation of 
England, and endured many sufferings and hardships, 
and several years imprisonment at Gloucester for his 
faithfulful testimony for God, and continued faithful 
to his death. On his dying-bed he said that the Lord 
had done well for him, and the chastizements of the 
Lord are good ; exhorting his children and friends 
about him to live in the fear of the Lord, that they 
might die in his favour, saying, 'The end will crown 
« all.' 

He died in the Sixty-seventh year of his age. 



TSAAC ALEXANDER, son of Thomas and Alice 
-*- Alexander, of Bendrig in Kiilington, in the county 
of Westmoreland, was born in the year 1680, and 
convinced of the blessed truth in the year 1694, in 
the fourteenth year of his age ; and in the seven* 



2$3 PIETY PROMOTED. 

teenth year of his age he received a gift of the mi- 
nistry, and became an able minister of the gospel of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. 

In 169S he travelled abroad in the work of the 
gospel, and went into Yorkshire, and through the 
east parts of England, till he came to London; and 
after his return home he travelled in the same service 
into Scotland, and visited all the meetings of friends 
in that nation ; and after his return thence, he went 
into the western and southern parts of this nation; 
and thfee J d all the meetings of 

friends in Ireland, and most of die meetings in 
England and Wales. 

In the Eighth month, 1705, he began to be much 
out of health, and yet attended friends meetings till 
the middle of the Tenth month following ; and on 
the 2 1 st of the same, several friends sitting by him, 
he being sensible of God's salvation, said in admira- 
tion thereof to the Lord, ■ To thee, to thee, be sal- 
4 vation and praise, this is a day of great salvation ;' 
and signified what great mercy it was that the Lord 
should visit us in our young years, and reveal Ins 
blessed truth to us, and how unworthy many were 
before the Lord did make bare the arm of his salva- 
tion ; further saying, ' How has the Lord been to 
* me in the time of my sickness, although I 'have 
c formerly (ch much of his power and presence, yet 
' never enjoyed such plenty thereof, as since I have 
'been visited with this sickness;' instancing one 
night, wherein he could not sleep, he enjoyed more 
abundantly of the love of God than at any other time 
before. He said, ' Oh ! what 'an excellent thing it 
- ' is to keep in the truth, and visit another in the life 
1 of it;' and he made a great difference between 
those who visit the sick in the sense of life, and 
other visitors, who no sooner meet but begin to talk;, 
of their worldly affairs. He said, 'Friends, get into 
< an inward acquaintance with the Lord in spirit, for 



PIETY PROMOTED. 353 

'it is a good thing to retire to the rock, there is 

* safety, there is good standing, an excellent bottom , 
' and room enough \ ' and further said, ( If any go 
' out of the bounds of truth,, thinking thereby to 

* bring others in, they will find themselves to be in 

* slippery places -/and said, ' Beware of joining with 

* false unsettled spirits. 5 Another time, two friends 
sitting by Kim, he felt the power and presence of the 
Lord', and sang praises unto him after an heavenly 
manner, saying, * My heart is full, though I cart 

* truly say, I have no desire to speak, but as I feel 
' it spring from the life.' 

On the 28th of the Tenth month he said, ' As I 

* lay on my bed very weak of body, I thought I could 
c never die better, fori feit my salvation sealed unto 
' me. Oh ! (said he to them present) love God, 
' love God, for he is worthy, you may love any 

* thing else too much, but you can never love God 
( too much ; Oh ! what hath he done for my souJ, 
f he hath given to me everlasting comfort, it is 

* enough, it is enough indeed.' He said moreover, 
1 There is two things which is to my great satisfac- 

* tion, 

* 1st, That ever since the Lord manifested him- 
': self to me, I have freely given up myself to his 

* requirings, and delivered his word faithfully, and 
' have not sought to please men, neither did I look 
1 for great things ♦, what I desired was, that I might 

* have a place amongst the sanctified. 

* 2dly. I have always been against libertine spirits, 

* and have had no familiarity with them , these 
' things are now my comfort. 5 

And he also said, * Oh ! I have seen glorious 
' things, yea, such things as I never saw before j 

* I beheld a friend lately deceased in a glorious place, 

* and that I was to be with him ; and I said it is 

* enough to be there, Oh! such salvation!' again, 
6 1 am glad I can say, O death, where is thy sting j 



354 PIETY PROMOTED: 

< 

'and grave, where is thy victory?' Another time* 
some friends visiting him, he related to them how 
the Lord had raised him from nothing to bear a tes- 
timony for him, and wheresoever the Lord drew me; 
1 have followed him, both in this nation and other* 
nations, and sought not the favdur and interest 
among men ; and he warned and cautioned the 
ligent to be diligent and faithful, and come up in the 
service of truth ; and said, ' The Lord will cause a 

* dreadful day to overtake the disobedient and the 

ring, ' It is sealed to my soul, that 
c hastens on apace.' 

He often said at times in great weakness of body, 
' I desire to be dissolved and to be with Chribt, but 
' the Lord's will be done;' adding, ■ The Lord's* 
c presence is here ;' giving thanks for his divine help, 
saying, ' I never wanted comfort from him in this* 

* time of sickness: friends, it is an excellent thing" 
'"to have a conscience void of offence towards God, 
4 keep your hearts clean, I have discharged my duty 
' to all people, so that I find nothing but that I ant 
' fully clear, I am fully clear-,' and after a little time' 
he brake forth in a sweet harmony, and lifted up his' 
voice in prayer to the Lord, 'which had been very 
low several weeks) saying, ' O Lord God ! though' 
1 my exercises and pain of body aboundeth, thy 

* power and life doth much more abound, and car- 

* Ties me over all ;' fervently begging of the Lord to 
be with all his faithful labourers in the world over, 
rendering thanks for his glorious appearante, saying, 
' Worthy, worthy, worthy art thou. O Lord, of all 
c honour, thanksgiving and praise *,' and prayed for 
an easy passage out of this world, which the Lord 
granted him.; for about the second hour the same day 
in the afternoon he fell asleep, and twelve hours after, 
he said to a friend present, ' Lay my head better ;* 
which done, he said, i Now I will fall upon my sleep/" 



PIETY PROMOTED. 355 

and immediately went away as if he had fallen into 
a natural sleep. 

He died the 12th of the Twelfth month, 1705, at 
the house of James Wilson, at Aba, near Kendal 5 
and the 15th of the- same month was buried at Brig- 
flats, near Sedberg. 



A NNE CAMM, late wife of Thomas Camm, of 
•*■*• Camm's-Gill, was daughter of Richard Newby, 
in the parish of Kendal in Westmoreland, a family 
of good repute, being always religiously inclined ; 
her said father was convinced of? the blessed truth in 
1652, and died therein a faithful man. Anne Camm 
was born in the Eighth month, 1627, and was well 
educated in learning proper for her sex. About the 
thirteenth year of her age she was sent up by her 
parents to an aunt at London, where she became 
acquainted with a religious people called Puritans.- 
Her stay in London was about seven years, from 
whence she returned to Kendal ; after some time 
there, she removed to the city of York, and dweitia 
a family of great account in the world, her mistress 
a pious woman, after whose decease she returned 
again to Kendal, her society stiil being with the 
most religious where she came 5 as at Kendal there 
was a seeking people, who met often together, some- 
times sitting in silence, other times in religious con- 
ferences, and often in fervent prayer : John Audiand 
living remote, yet sometimes fell in amongst them ; 
and about the year 1650, John Audiand and she 
married, and they were both convinced of truth in 
the beginning of 1652, by the ministry of that ho- 
nourable servant of Christ, George Fox ; and so 
powerfully did God, by his sanctifying word and 
spirit, work upon them, that they were thereby 
made effectual instruments in his hand, to preach 



356 PIETY PROMOTED. 

the gerspel unto others in the next year, 1653, and* 
so forward, until the Lord put a period to their days: 
The first place the said Anne Audland was called of 
the Lore! to \i:it, except about home, was the county 
of Durham, about the beginning of the year 1654, 
and she did preach truth unto the people in the town 
of Aukland, in the said'eounty, on a market-day, for 
which she was imprisoned in the town goal, where 
she spake to the peoph through the window, and 
several were affected with her testimony j and towards 
evening she was discharged ; and John LangstafF, 
who was of great repute among his neighbours, 
owned her testimony, and went with her into prison, 
ami when ..ht her to his house; but 

John's wife being no friend, chid with her husband, 
which made Anne very uneasy to stay there: so she 
walked out in the fields to seek some covert place to 
take up her lodging in ; but Anthony Pearson, of 
Ram pshaw, a Lite ju^ice of the peace, who lived 
some miles distant, having knowledge by George 
Fox, who was at his house, of Anne's coming to 
that town, came with a horse and pillion, and took 
her home to his house that night. 

After her service in those parts was over, she re- 
turned home; and in the winter following, she, with 
Mabel Camm, wife of John Camm, travelled through, 
Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, "into Oxford- 
shire, to the town of Banbury ; where Mabel Camm 
had a concern to go to the steeple-house, and spake 
to the priest and people, and Anne accompanied her ; 
whereupon the people rudely hurried them out of 
the house, and abused them in the yard : the priest 
passing by, Anne Audland. said, ' Man, behold the- 
' fruits of thy ministry.' Next day they were sent 
for before the mayor, who had got two witnesses to 
swear Anne had spoken blasphemy, for which they 
committed her to prison ; Mabel Camm was dis- 
missed^ and travelled to Bristol, where she met with 



PIETY PROMOTED. 



357 



lier husband John Camm. After some days, two 
men in Banbury gave bond for her appearance at 
the next assize, by which she was a kind of prisoner 
at large, which gave opportunity for her to have 
several meetings with the people in the town ; and 
her two bonds-men, and several hundreds more, 
came to be convinced of truth, and turned to the 
Lord Jesus Christ, being the fruits of that effectual 
powerful ministry God had called her to bear, so 
that many were added to the church, and a large 
meeting of friends there was in that town, and 
several other meetings in the country adjacent were 
settled, for which cause their adversaries were angry, 
and they threatened that she should be burned when, 
the assize earner and when the assize came, John 
Audiand, John Camm, and Thomas Camm were 
•-there, and some friends from London and Bristol ; 
and the substance of the charge or indictment drawn 
up against her was, that she had said God did not 
live, because she had said concerning the priest at 
Banbury, that ' True words may be a lie in the 

* mouth of some that speak them ; ' alledging, Jer. 
v, 2. cc And though they say the Lord liveth, (which 
" nothing can be more true J surely they swear 

■'* falsely." The judge of the court was moderate, 
observing her sober and wise answers unto his ques- 
tions, and her innocent boldness and comely person- 
age, and seeing the uncertainty of the evidence 
against her, and that the matter of fact charged, did 
not amount to what was designed, gave the matter 
to the jury thus, viz. < That she acknowledged the 

* Lord her God and Redeemer to live, and that there 

* were gods of the heathen and of the Philistines that 
e were dead gods.' Some upon the bench perceiving 
their end would not be answered, went off to influence 
the jury to bring in something against the prisoner, 
lest they should come off with discredit *, one of the 
bench observing the injustice in tjiat matter, stepped 



55* PIETY PROMOTED. 

■ctT also, telling tlicm, he would sit no longer with 
them, till more juftie'e was amongst them, and was 
convinced of truth : and other officers in the court 
threw away their staves, and bore testimony against 
their arbitrary proceedings; so the jury returning 
into court, being asked if they were agreed, they 
answered they were; and being asked what they 
found, they made answer, * Only misdemeanour :' . 
a friend present told them it was illegal to indict her 
for one fact and bring her in guilty of another; for 
they plight to have found her either guilty or not 
guilty, upon the matter of fact charged in the in- 
dictment. So the judge told Anne, if she would 
give bond for her good behaviour, she might have 
her liberty, &C. she refusing, they sent her to prison 
again : but the judge was heard to say, that the 
prisoner should have I barged, but the judge 

bad a mind somewhat to please the angry justices ; 
and het > ries were confounded, and slipped off 
the bench one after another disorderly, without dis- 
rt, so that truth was that day exalted, 
and the Lord's power magnified in frustrating the 
designs of wicked men. And the prison where Anne 
was sent to, was a close nasty place, several steps 
below ground, on the side whereof was a sort of 
common-sewer, that received much of the mud in the. 
town, that at times did stink sorely ; besides frogs 
and toads did crawl in their room, and no place for 
fire, yet she was in great content, because it was 
God's cause. Her fellow prisoner was Jane Waugh, 
a labourer in the gospel, who came some months 
before to visit her, and was committed to prison 
with her; but God's presence and peace being with 
them, made their nasty stinking goal a palace, where 
she remained seven or eight months, and from her 
first commitment, about a <year and a half, and was 
at last discharged by the mayor and aldermen. And 
the same day was Richard Farnsworth set at liberty, 



P*ETY PROMOTED. 359 

Vho with other men friends were prisoners in another 
room •, but Jane "Waugh still continued a prisoner- 
Anne had frequent meetings in Banbury before she 
left it; and also went to the mayor to demand the 
liberty of her friend Jane Waugh, who was im- 
prisoned for no other fact, than for coming many- 
miles in love to visit her in prison, and she was soon 
after set at liberty. So being clear of those parts, 
' she travelled through the countries to Bristol, where 
she met with her hu/uand John Audland ; and Joha 
Audland and Anne Audland continued in their ser- 
vice and labour in the ministry in several parts of 
this nation, south, west, and northward, until John 
Audland fell sick, and died in the latter end of the 
year 1663, having been married to his v/ife Ann* 
about thirteen years, and left behind one daughter, 
since dead, and one son named John, born a few 
days after his father's death ; and the 30th of the 
Third month, 1666, Thomas Camm married the said 
Anne Audland, and they lived together in true love, 
serving the Lord forty years wanting six months ; 
and she Was one with her husband in all his services 
and sufferings, as at one imprisonment "three years 
at Kendal, he not permitted so much as to see his 
family-; another time at Appleby near six years, the 
first part straitly confined, the latter, through favour 
of the sheriff and goaler, had much liberty. And 
they travelled together in the work of the ministry 
into the southern parts of the nation, as London and 
Bristol, £cc. especially at London. About twenty- 
six years ago, she had like to haye died in that city, 
as also of later years at Bristol ; and the last time she 
was there, she was brought nigh the grave ; at whick 
time she expressed many heavenly sayings, that will 
not be easily forgot by some, warning all to -prize 
their time, and prepare for their latter end, as God 
had inclined her to do, so that she enjoyed unspeak- 
able peace here, with full assurance of eternal rest 



^6o PIETY PROMOTED. 

and felicity in the world to come, which (said she) 
I bare desired to enter into as gain, rather than to 
live, if God so please. It was her manner often to 
retire alone in her closet, or some private place, ex- 
ercising herself in fervent grayer, and to Bet apart 
some time almost daily for reading the holy Scrip- 
tures, and other good books, and very diligent in 
frequenting meetings for the worship of God, &c. 
She was not forward to appear in preaching or prayer 
in public meetings, but when she did, it was fervent, 
weight v, and with the demonstration of the spirit, 
and with power, to the refreshment of the church, 
her doctrine dropping as dew, but with zeal to lay 
the mountain oi Esau ; and she had wisdom 
to know the time and season of her service, in which 
she v iple to her sex, for without ex- 

traordinary impulse and concern, it was rare for her 
to preach in large meetings, where she knew there 
were brethren qualified for the service of such meet- 
ings; niu l s he was grieved when any, especially of 
her sex, should be too hasty, forward or unseasonable 
in their appearing in such meetings •, and she would 
give advice to such, not without good effect, and 
behaved herself as an humb'e servant of her Lord 
and Master Christ Jesus, washing his disciple's feet, 
and helping and serving, as a nursing-mother, the 
weakest and tenderest of the flock of Christ, and was 
an encourager of those who came forth m a testi- 
mony for God, though but of a stammering tongue. 

The last opportunity she had amongst friends was 
the 2d of the Ninth month, 1705, at a monthly- 
meeting at Kendal ; and notwithstanding her great 
age and weakness of body, with the coldness of the 
season, she would not excuse herself from that day's 
service ; and the Lord was with her in good counsel 
and advice to friends, pressing all to faithfulness 
and diligence in their service for God, that they 
might receive their reward with those who had near 



PIETY PROMOTED. 361 

served out their day. The next day her illness 
began; about the 16th of the said month, finding 
her husband under concern, because of her sickness, 
she said as followeth : 

( My dear, if it be the Lord's good pleasure, who 

* joined us together, and has blessed us hitherto, to 

* separate us outwardly, I entreat thee be content 

* therewith, and give me freely up to the Lord, for 

* thou knowest we must part, and if I go first it is 
' but what I have desired of the Lord many a time, 

* and I believe the consideration of the desolate 

* condition I should be in, if left behind thee, wilt 

* have that place with thee, that thou wilt the more 

* freely commit me to the Lord, whose I am, ancf 

* whom I loved, feared and served with an upright 

* heart all my days: his unspeakable peace I enjoy, 
■ and his saving health is my portion for ever. I 
f pray thee be content with what the Lord pleaseth 
( to do with me ; whether life or death, his holy will 

* be done. Let us, my dear, leave all to the Lord; 
c however it be, it will be well : I have loved thee 
f with my soul, and God has blessed us, and wilt 

* bless thee, and be with thee, and make up all thy 

* losses. Death is gain to me, though it be thy loss* 

* and for my gain's sake, I hope thou wilt bear with 
c patience thy loss. I bless the Lord I am prepared 

* for my change ; I am full of assurance of eternal 

* salvation, and a crown of glory, through my dear 
4 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, whom God the 

* Father has sent to bless me, with many more, 
4 by turning us from the evil of our ways into the 
€ just man's path, which shines more and more to 
i the perfect day; and if God now please to nnish 

* my course, and take me out of this earthly ta- 

* bernacle, I am well content : I am clear, and have 

* discharged myself in the sight of God to all 
' friends, except something of late has been upon 

* my mind to send friends in the south a farewell 

Vol. I. Q 



362 PIETY PROMOTED. 

* epistle, especially to friends about Bristol and 

* Banbury ; but she said the substance thereof was 

* the remembrance of her dear love to them all in 
' the truth, with tender advice to the professors of 
< truth, to walk in, and keep to the simplicity thcre- 
4 of, out of heights and exaltedness, under the 
4 power of the cross of Christ, by which they will 

* be more and more crucified to the world, and 

* baptized into Christ, and put him on the new ami 

* heavenly man, in whom they will become new 

* creatures, and enabled to serxe God in spirit, and 

* keep to the unity thereof in the bond of peace and 
i love, which the god o: the world is still labouring 

* to break and dissolve : 1 have seen him at work to 

* make a breach and separation amongst friends, and 
' if he prevail, it will be under specious pretences of 

* a more angelical appearance than at any time 

* before, and will be a bait-taking to all that live 
1 above the cross and true sell' denial •, and I would 
1 all were warned to stand their ground in the power 

* of God, which only can bruise satan, and preserve 

* out of his subtle baits and snares/ 

Next day several friends came to see her, to 
whom she gave good advice and counsel, c To prize 
' their time : and oh ! I bless my God (said she) that 
' I lie now in great peace, and content of mind and 
1 soul, though my body be held with pain : oh ! that 
1 it may be so with you all my dear friends/ 

When she was very weak, some friends would 
ask her if she knew them ; l Yes, (said she) I know 

* you every one, I have my understanding as clear 

* as ever, for how should it be otherwise, since my 

* peace is made with God through the Lord Jesus 

* Christ •, I have no disturbance in mind, therefore 

* is my understanding and judgment so good and 
c clear, for it were sad to lie under affliction of 
c body and mind, to feel pinching pangs of body, 
' even to death, and to want peac, with G jd • oh ' 



PIETY PROMOTED. 363 

4 that would be intolerable to bear. Oh ! let my 
' soul praise the Lord for his peace and plenteous 
4 redemption.' 

Her son-in-law, John Moor, having skill in physic, 
administered somewhat to her, after which they 
thought she was better, and he was gone towards 
Swarthmore, but she soon grew worse again ; upon 
which her husband would have sent for him back, 
and also for her daughter, but she was unwilling, 
saying, c Be not careful in the matter, the Lord my 
' God is near me, and I have thy company, and it is 

* enough, and all will be well if this lump of clay, 

* in which I dwell, be dissolved; I have full assurance 

* of an house and dwelling God is the maker of, 
' that will never wax old, nor be dissolved : oh ! my 
( soul, bless thou the Lord, and be glad in his 

* salvation for evermore.' 

Her illness increased upon her, and many friends 
came to visit her, to whom she said, c Oh ! the cross 
' is the only way to the crown immortal, shun it not 

* therefore, lest you fall short of the crown j. and 
' stand up nobly for your testimony to the truth 

* in all things, and particularly against the popish 

* antichrist' an yoke of tithes, for which many have 

* not only suffered great spoil of goods, but im- 
' prisonment till death, and have received a crown 

* of life : oh ! if all that have been called to this 

* testimony, had stood firm and true therein, God 
\ would have wrought wonders for his people more 
' abundantly, but unbelief makes a long wilderness, 

* it is well if some die not in it, v and never see the 

* promised land.' 

About two days before she died, she gave good 
advice to her grand-children and servants, and said 
to her husband, * My dear, thou hast spent much 

* time and strength in serving truth and friends, thy 

* reward with God is sure ; I never begrudged thy 

* -absence in that good service ; and if it be the time 



364. PIETY PROMOTED. 

c of our parting, as I think now it will, I prny thee 

* quit thyself of the -things of this world, as much 
' as may be, that thou mayest with the more freedom 

* pursue that honourable service for truth to the end 

* of thy days: ami 1 hope the Lord will give thee 

* strength to travel into the southern parts again, 

* and remember my love to all friends, and warn all, 

* but especially the rich, to keep low, and not be 

* high-minded, lor humility and holiness is the 
•badge of our profession; Got! Almighty keep us 

* all low and humble, it is a safe and blessed state. 

* Arid] my dear, one thing I beg of thee, give me 
'up freely to the Lord; the Lord joined us, and 

» its Eo each other; let us bless his name, if lie 
i now mke us from each other in the outward, that 

* is all, for our joining in spirit stands and remains 

* for ever: oh ! therefore let me go easy out of this 
1 world) (where I have had a great share of trouble 

* many ways thou knowest; and get to that haven 

* of vest, that I have the full assurance of sealed 
1 upon my spirit/ 

A little before she died, some fainting fits taking 
her, she revived again, and said, ' I was glad, thinking 

* I was going to my eternal rest without disturbance/ 
Again she said, * I have both a sight and sense of 

* eternal rest witli God in the world to come; and 

* therefore I -labour .hard to be swallowed up in 
' immortal life, and to be made possessor of that 

* rest that cannot be disturbed, where sorrow will 
6 cease, and be no more for ever : oh ! my soul, this 

* is thy glorious portion, therefore bless thou the 

* Lord, and wait patiently his good and appointed 

* season.' Then she desired to be helped up in her 
bed, but her pains increased, she grew very weak 
and faint, and said, ' Methinks I grow weak and 

* cold, my hands and feet are grown very cold, yet 

* my heart is very strong before it yields, I must 
■f meet with sharper pangs than. I. have- yet felt, my 



PIETY PROMOTED; 3 65 

* GoJ has hitherto laid a gentle hand upon me;' 
and desired to lie down again, but could not stay, 
but being set up in bed again, she said, c This pain 

* is hard to flesh' and blood, but must be endured a 

* little time ; ease and eternal rest is at hand, I am 

* gladl see death so near me : oh ! remember me to 
1 all my dear babes and grand-children, I shall with 

* these eyes behold them no more, God Almighty 

* bless 'them all, and make them all his children, 
' that I may enjoy them for ever in the heavens 
' above : neither shall I see my sons and daughter ; 
' ah ! my prodigal son, what shall I do for him ? 

* I have prayed, and longed for his return ; the time 
' may come, God grant it may, but I shall not see 
' it in my time; he is my son, the son of a godly 

* father, and therefore I cannot but love him; tell 
4 him, it is his immortal soul's well-being that I am 

* concerned for; not so much his outward stat» 
'here, for that, though never so miserable, will 

* quickly end, but the misery of the soul separated 
' from God, will never end. And, my dear, though 

* our counsel has not had the desired end, yet I do 
' entreat thee, remain a father to him in repeated 
'counsel; leave him not to run on in the way of 
e misery, but labour and pray for his return : oh ! 
'thou hast been true to me in bearing with me 
'many a heavy burthen, and hast done abundance 
' for him every way, for my sake ; ' with more to 
that purpose ; ' My love to his wife, I desire she 
' may mind heavenly things, and pray God bless 

* their offspring, that they may walk in the steps of 
' their grandfather, who is gone to his eternal rest ;* 
with well-wishes for her son and daughter Moor, 
and blessings upon their children. The day she 
died, many friends came to see her, being their 
monthiy-meeting-day, to whom she gave good advice, 
and expressed her joy and comfort in the salvation 
of God, peace and perfect ' redemption. Seeing 

o i 



366 PIETY PROMOTED. 

friends weep, she said, l Be not concerned, for all 

* : s well, I have only death to encounter, and the 

* Sting of it is wholly taken away ; the grave has no 
1 victory, and my soul is ascending above all sorrow 

* ai <1 pain. So let me go freely to my heavenly 

* mansion, disturb me not in my passage; and my 

i the meeting, let me not hinder the 

, but let it be chief, and by you all 

Lilly* thai at the end you may receive 

trdj for mine is sure; I have not been 

work is done.' Ami friends 

eting, and in a little time her pains 

. which Bhe bore with patience, but sighed 

i. I to help her through her 

leath : and after some words, she said, 

* Oh my God ! oh my God ! thou hast not forsaken 

* me, blessed be thy name for ever; oh my blessed 

* Lord and Saviour ! that Buffered for me, and all 

* mankind, great pains in thy holy brdy upon the 

* cross, remember me thy poor hand-maid in this 

* my great bodily affliction, my trust is in thee, my 

* h< pe is only in thee, my dear Lord -, oh come, 

* come dear Lord Jesus, come quickly, receive my 
' soul, to thee I yield it up, help me now in my 

* bitter pangs;' which indeed were very great, and 
her husband prayed by her, that the Lord would 
jrnake her passage easy ; and she had no more such 
pangs, but drew her breath shorter by degrees, and 
»aid very little more, but that it wai> good to leave 
all "to the Lord; saying, 'Oh! pray, pray, pray, 
and so fell asleep in the Lord, in a good old age, 
being in her Seventy-ninth year, as a shock of corn 
in season. She died the 30th of the Ninth month, 
1705, and was honourably buried, many ancient 
friends of about thirteen adjacent meetings accom- 
panied her to the* grave, the 3d of the Tenth month, 

THE EXD OF THE THIRD PART. 



PIETY PROMOTED, 

IN A 

COLLECTION OF DYiNG SAYINGS 

OF MANY OF THE PEOPLE CALLED 

QUAKERS. 

WITH 

A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THEIR 
LABOURS IN THE GOSPEL, 

AND SUFFERINGS FOR THE SAME. 

THE FOURTH PART. 
A NEW EDITION. 

mm ■ in ii i ■ «. iii.m 

By JOHN FEILD. 

" Let the saints be joyful in glory : let them s>i»g aloud 
" upon their beds." Psal. cxlix. S. 

— — " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from~ 
" henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from 
u their laboursj and their works do follow them." Rev. xiv. 1& 



LONDON: 



PRINTED AND SOLD BY WILLIAM FHILLIfS^, 
GEORGE YARD, LOMBARD STREET.^ 

J812 r 



THE PREFACE TO THE READER. 



BY ANOTHER HAND. 



Friendly Reader, 

/^ IVE ear to that advice which was given by the 
V^ lawgiver in Deut. xxxii. 29. in the words of that 
song, wherein he broke out saying, " Oh ! that they 
" were wise, that they understood this, that they 
u would consider their latter end," &c. herein is 
expressed his care for the good of that people; but 
how little many regarded it is very apparent by their 
forgetf ulness of the Lord, who had done mar- 
vellously for them ; for how did they provoke the 
Lord to anger, after divers manners, (as is recorded 
of them) some by a vicious course of life, thereby 
neglecting both their present good, and future hap- 
piness ^ which might well occasion the prophet Amos 
to say, chap. iv. 12. " Prepare to meet thy God, 
" O Israel I " here is an agreement, and holy 
harmony of these good men in a matter of so great 
moment. A cloud of the like-minded might be 
produced on this occasion (which for brevity sake 
is here omitted) to shew the care of the religious on 
this account, and also the negligence of the irre- 
ligious 1 though they wanted not a profession, but 
for want of fearing the Lord, and serving of him, 
although they had the law dispensed to them by the 
disposition of angels \ nevertheless they were dis- 
obedient 3 and rebelled against the Lord, and cast 
CL5 



370 THE PREFACE. 

his law behind their backs, and resisted the Holy 
Ghost, as said the blessed martyr Stephen, whom 
they stoned to death, though they were not able to 
resist the wisdom and spirit by which he spake : 
wherefore let none professing Christianity follow 
their example, but by these foregoing instances 
beware, and learn to mind the grace of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, that so they may chuse the things that 
belong to their peace, before they are hid from their 
eyes. 

The promotion of piety, was intended by the 
compiler of the three former volumes of dying 
sayings, which met with such general acceptance, 
that many have desired the continuation of so good 
a work, which doth in measure conduce (through 
the good Spirit of God) to awaken people to a 
preparation for death, a work indeed so very ne- 
cessary for the children of men to observe, and be 
concerned about, that none ought to neglect it; 
for death most certainly will overtake all flesh i* 
but when, where, or how, is generally hid fron. 
men, it is a secret that the Almighty has kept from 
them. 

How doth it therefore behove all to be in readi- 
ness against the coming of the Lord. There are 
few but will readily confess such a preparation 
ought to be (though by too many it is neglected) in- 
order to which, I entreat, that it may be thy chiefest 
care to fear God, and keep his commandments,, 
for that is the conclusion of the whole matter \ 
without which, profession, worship, and confession 
to the very truth, profiteth. little : wherefore let 
godliness be thy chiefest concern, that thou thereby 
mayest have the profit of this life, and of that which 
is to come, life everlasting. 

Oh ! prize the season of the love of God unto 
thee, in affording thee heavenly light, by which thou- 
mayest see his -way, and how to walk therein in 



THE PREFACE. 371 

well -pleasing to him, -who calls to thee by a word 
behind thee, saying, " This is the way walk, in it." 

Reader, take heed to this teacher, which is come 
near unto thy soul, that thou mayest be guided into 
all truth, by the Lord Jesus Christ manifested in 
spirit; let him be thy counsellor; and if sinners 
entice thee, consent thou not; for blessed is the 
man who walketh not in the counsel of the un- 
godly, &c. 

Awake 5 oh! daughter of Zion, and wait for the 
coming of the bridegroom ; thou hast a lamp, take 
oil in thy vessel, that thou mayest enter in with 
him: be wise betimes, for wisdom saith, "I love 
" them that love me, and they that seek me early 
sl shall find me:" and again, it is advised to get 
wisdom, and with all thy getting, get understanding; 
the first is got by fearing the Lord, the second by 
departing from evil. 

The exhortation of old was, " Remember thy 
u Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil 
" days come not, when thou shalt say, I have no 
6< pleasure in them ; in the day when the keepers of 
" the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall 
" bow themselves." 

Prepare for such a day, for what knowest thou 
but it may be near to thy doer. Wherefore spend 
not thy time in vanity, or excessive care, saying, 
" What shall I eat, or what shall I drink, or 
* c wherewithal shall I be cloathed . ? but first seek 
<c the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and 
Si all these things shall be added; for your heavenly 
<f Father (said our blessed Lord) knoweth that you: 
" have need of these things." And the Psalmist 
said, " I have been young, and now I am old ; vet 
" have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his 
"seed begging bread:" by all which it doth appear, 
that the Almighty^ who feedeth the ravens, provideth 
a. necessary supply for his children, and a little with-- 



372 THE PREFACE. 

the blessing of the Lord is sufficient ; although with 
some a great deal hath not served •, for (for want of 
a moderate care) some, like the prodigal, have spent 
their portion ; others through sloth, which comes to 
what the wise man said, " He that is slothful in 
" business, is brother to hiirPthat is a great waster :" 
wherefore let thy moderation appear in all things ; 
neither be over thoughtful to get, nor careless in 
spending. 

Live not unto thyself, but unto him who died for 
thee, and rose again, who was our great pattern of 
self-denial •, and taught, that if any man would 
come after him, he must deny himself, and take 
up his daily cross: which, alas! proves hard to 
some, as it did to the young mai\, Mat. xix. 22. 
who went away sorrowful, and would no more sell 
all that he had, though for the gaining eternal life, 
no more will many now forsake evil, and do good, 
that they may dwell for evermore. 

What argument shall be used, to persuade men 
•to seek after peace with God, and acceptance with 
him ? f to chuse with Mary, the good part ♦, which 
may be attained unto by true humility and the fear 
4jf the Lord, as was evidenced by her patience and 
true contrition,) which is but little regarded by 
-some, especially of the youth ; who rather are 
pleasing themselves with the gaiety and other va- 
nities of this world, spending much of their precious 
time in adorning themselves after the foolish modes 
and vain fashions thereof which passeth away. 

How many spend their days thus, and in a 
moment go down to the grave, and their candle is 
put out : so little is eternity thought on, that when 
death comes, it is the greater surprize to such, who 
are ready to, say, " Woe unto us, for the day goeth 
<c away, and the shadows of the evening are stretched 
" out:" then a little more time to recover strength, 
or make their peace with God, would be greatly 



THE PREFACE. 



373 



acceptable to such whose glass is near run, who are 
travelling through the valley of the shadow of death, 
and the glory of this world is stained, the beauty of* 
it is fled away : what would a soul in such distress 
give (if it were to be purchased) for an inheritance 
in the kingdom of heaven. 

Much might be said on this subject, of reminding 
the living to prepare to die, that a volume might be 
writ on purpose, without meddling with the sayings 
of the deceased; but the words of the dying may 
make a deeper impression than what is here written. 

I therefore recommend thee, serious reader, to the 
perusal of what follows ; and to the grace of God, 
by which it may be made advantageous to thy 
everlasting well-being, when time here shall be no 
more. 



THE INTRODUCTION, 



TWRSUANT to the title is the following collection 
-*- made, viz. to promote piety, and excite all to 
live the life of the righteous, that they may be 
blessed in their death, and welcomed after with the 
loving invitation of the Lord Jesus- Christ, viz., 
" Come ye, blessed of niy Father, enter you into the 
" kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of 
" the world." Also to shew that they are those 
that truly believe in God, and the Lord Jesus Christ 
his dear Son, that came from him, who receive that 
power through which they are enabled to do righ- 
teousness, and by him only are made righteous; 
It is such that promote piety. 

The knowledge only of what is right and good ? 
the profession thereof, or being educated in the 
doctrines of the Christian religion, will not entitle 
any to eternal happiness, if the doing part be 
wanting ; for piety is not promoted by a bare notion 
and profession, or saying prayers, hearing sermons 
or declarations, but by a holy life, and a right 
ordered conversation ; nor salvation to any of the 
professors of Christianity, from sin known whilst 
here, nor from eternal wrath hereafter, by any other 
way than by faith and obedience unto Christ ; for 
they that fear God, and work righteousness whilst 
here, will find acceptance with God and enjoy his 
favour: and as they continue faithful therein unto 
death, shall have the crown of life, whether young 
or old ; for as they fear the Lord, he teaches them, 
and they learning of him, come to be established in 



3 7 6 THE INTRODUCTION. 

righteousness, and know their peace to be great 
whilst here, and do inherit glory in God's kingdom 
hereafter : but if any pretend to love Christ, and 
continue doing evil, such keep not his commands, 
abide not in his doctrine, nor love him ; for by their 
evil doing they declare they hate the light, and by 
living in iniquity are found in that which is hateful 
in God's sight ; from all which he in great love sent 
his Son to redeem mankind. 

It is therefore by me tenderly desired, for the 
promotion of piety, that all may think of God, and 
.seriously consider their latter end, love, receive, and 
learn of the light, grace, and spirit of God, which 
is in them, and shews what is evil, and reproves 
them, when they think, speak, or do amiss ; for 
this spirit will give unto all who join with it, a 
good understanding, teach them to prize and improve 
their present time, and strengthen unto every good 
word and work, and preserve them, whether young 
or old, in that fear towards God, which Abraham 
had, that was God's friend, whom when God had 
tried, he said, " Now I know thou fearest me." 

Oh! how excellent is the fear of God? so gen- 
erally and worthily commended; though by many 
too little minded, and lived in ; which is the cause 
piety is no more promoted : but that it may by all 
that profess and desire to be God's people and 
children, let them learn and live in that holy fear, 
which Moses wrote of, Deut. iv. io. saying, that 
the people should learn to fear God all the days 
that they should live upon the earth; for all those 
that do not fear God (but love and live in sin) the 
Lord of host, said he, will be a swift witness 
against them : but if mankind fear him as they 
ought, and think upon his name, the Lord of hosts 
hath said, they shall be his. 

Let not therefore the love of the world, or the 
things of it, or the fading vanities, sinful pleasures, 



THE INTRODUCTION. 377 

or evil lusts that are therein, either of the eye, the 
flesh, or pride of life, be followed by any that 
would promote piety, and die happily, and live 
eternally. 

Note, 1. I esteem myself obliged in the following 
account, to give hints of some of the labours, 
services, and sufferings of the deceased, the better 
to lead to the meaning of some of their expressions, 
and to shew forth the virtue and excellency of that 
faith they had in Christ, who suffered and died for 
them, and that it was not only given to them to 
believe, but also to suffer for his name's sake. 

2. To excite all that have not received Christ 
the true light, to receive, believe in, love and obey 
him faithfully unto death. 

3 . Asa memorial of the deceased, and for the 
sake of the living, that they, by the dying sayings 
of the deceased, may he stirred up, as aforesaid, to 
remember and prepare for their latter end, and to 
make a blessed conclusion here, and then to be 
favoured with the like assurance in their last moments, 
as the deceased mentioned in the following accounts 
had, to the comfort of their souls, and satisfaction 
of their near and dear relations and friends, who 
were the more confirmed in the belief of what they 
said, being then about to launch in eternity* at 
which time every awakened conscience dares not 
dissemble, that desire to be happy hereafter. 

If reading the following treatise, written for these 
ends, be in any wise instrumental to the good of 
the living, to excite them to prepare for their latter 
end, as I pray God it may, my design will be 
answered, and the great God, through Jesus Christ, 
shall have the praise, for he is worthy for ever, 
€aith my soul, 

J. Feild. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 



THE FOURTH PART. 



JOHN WHITING, of Naylsey, in the county of 
** Somerset, yeoman, in the year 1654, when 
JohnAudland and John Cam, two eminent ministers 
among the people called Quakers, were first sent 
from the north of England to Bristol, and the 
adjacent counties, freely to preach the gospel of the 
grace of God, and to turn people from darkness to 
light, and from the power of satan unto God : then 
the said John ^ > h ting was convinced of the blessed 
truth, and received it in the love thereof, as it was 
professed by those called Quakers ; and also received 
the ministers of : t into his house, as he had the 
truth they declared into his heart : and had meetings 
held at his house, for to wait upon God, and 
worship him in the spirit of his dear Son ; and for 
his ministers freely to preach the gospel of peace 
and salvation, as they were sent and required by 
hi in 

And although the truth, and those that received 
it, were greatly despised in those early days, yet 
this ;,;- pie of Christ, being made partaker of the 
like precious faith that was once delivered to the 
saniis, was zealous for die truth, it being given to 
him nor only to believe, but also to suffer for the 
sake of Christ, amongst the first of those people 



PIETY PROMOTED. 379 

(to whom he was joined) in that county, and 
remained faithful unto death. 

In the time of his sickness, and near his end, in 
a sense of the Jove of God, and in love 'to his wife, 
with a desire that she, who was then young in the 
truth, which he had received, professed, and had 
suffered for, and found peace and comfort in : he 
exhorted her, saying, ( As . thou hast believed in the 
'light, so walk in it;' which shewed, as he loved 
Christ the true light, he desired she. might walk' 
therein. And truly there are none but those that 
do evil, who hate the light ; neither can such be 
saved, until they come to believe and walk in the 
light, as all the nations of them that are saved do, 
and it is not doubted but this our friend did, and 
died in the faith of Christ, and in peace with God 
through him. 

He died the 9th of the Fourth month, 1658; 
aged about Twenty-seven years, having been con- 
vinced four years. 



A NNE DEWSBURY, wife of William Dewsbury, 
•f^ then of Wakefield, in Yorkshire, an hand-maid 
of the Lord, in the beginning of the Seventh month, 
1659, had a revelation (or dream) from the Lord, 
that her outward man was nigh to be finished, and 
though she might be exercised with much weakness \ 
yet in the midst thereof the Lord would strengthen 
her with his presence, and in him she should 
overcome the last enemy, which is death : and 
having assurance of what was revealed, though at 
that time she was in good health, she made ready 
what might be serviceable when her change came, 
and about the 29th of the said Seventh month, some 
weakness came upon her, which increased so much 
that she was many times, to outward appearance, 
near laying 4own of the bodyj yet the Lord pre^ 



3 So PIETY PROMOTED. 

served her in much patience, and fresh in his love- 
lier husband, being gene to the farthest part of 
Scotland in the service of truth, and to publish the 
day of the Lord, and preach the gospel of Christ, 
was moved of the Lord, the 9U1 of the Eighth 
month, to return to her, and on the 28th of the 
Eighth month, 1650, he was brought to her with 
joy in the Lord ; after which she was weaker in her 
outward man ; but the Lord gave her strength by 
his living presence to wait till her change came, 
which drew near, and being exercised in her affliction, 
which lay heavy upon her, she called to her husband, 
with certain friends, saying, ' Pray to the Lord that 
( he may ease his afflicted hand-maid.' And the 
Lord moved them to call upon him, and immediately 
he took away the heavy affliction. Then she mag-- 
nified the Lord, saying, * Blessed be his name, he 
1 hath heard our prayers, and caused his hand-maid 

* to rejoice.' Then she embraced her husband in 
her arms, saying, * Thou, art my dear husbarad, 
' thou art my dear husband, thou art clear before the 
€ Lord, and hast discharged thy duty, and answered 
c thy place, like an honest man to thy wife 5 thou 
f art blessed of the Lord, large is thy reward.' Then 
she expressed these words, saying, * Dear husband, 
1 I am clear before the Lord thy God, I have no 

* guilt upon my spirit in the covenant of light and 

4 life, sealed with the blood of Jesus, I am at 

* eternal peace with him.' 

Then she exhorted the friends present, saying, 
' Oh ! friends, get into the covenant of light and 
( life, get into the covenant, be faithful to the voice 
c that cries, " This is the way, walk in it." Then 
her strength was much gone, yet prayed to God a 
season of time longer, and breathing to the Lord till 
much spent, some that stood by her, seeing her lips 
and mouth move, but did not understand what her 
words were, asked her if she spake to them, and 



£XETY PROMOTED. 381 

•what she wanted, she answered, ( T spake not .of 

* you, neither do I want any thing of you.' Some 
time after she called for her husband, who was near, 
and . presently spake to her, saying, c Dear wife, 
'what wouldest thou with me,' she answered, 'I 

* would have thee be with me and see me die.' 
He sate down by her ; then embracing her husband 
in her arms, and with breathings to the Lord, laki 

.down her body with joy in peace with kirn. 



A NTHONY PATRICKSON, formerly of Stock- 
"^*- how, in the parish of JLamplugh, in Cumberland-, 
received truth in those parts of the country with the 
first, and was made by the Lord a minister of the 
severlasting gospel, and travelled in several places of 
the nation of England, and through Scotland, Ireland,, 
and the Isle of Man, and was diligent in attending 
meetings, and admonishing and instructing the weak, 
and remained stedfast to the end. lie was of a 
lamb-like spirit, meek, gentle, not easily provoked, 
ready to do good, and walked honestly j was of" 
godly conversation, and preached therein to those 
that were enemies to the gospel 5 so that they would 
confess, if all the /Quakers were like him, surely 
they were a good people. When taken sick, he 
saw he must depart this life, and immediately the 
incomes of the love of God did _ break in upon his 
spirit, with .sweet comfort and consolation, and he 
said, £ The Lord hath given me an assurance of that 
i blessed inheritance that, never will have end/ 

Thus did this faithful witness finish his testimony, 
and end his race of this mortal life, the latter en<l 
of the Sixth months i66q> 



382 PIETY PROMOTED. 

j\]ARY PAGE, wife to William Page, of Wel- 
-*■'-*■ lingborough, in the county of Northampton, 
a true and faithful hand-maid of the Lord, was 
taken sick at Warwick prison, where she had been 
a prisoner, during the space of eleven months and 
upwards, for the testimony of the name of the 
Lord, which faithful testimony she sealed with her 
blood, to the joy ot all that beheld her innocent 
passage in the power of the eternal God. This 
hand-maid ci the Lord was enlarged through the 
pourings forth of the spirit of the Lord, and upon 
her death-bed, in great power exhorted all to be 
faithful and abide in the covenant of light, and be 
truly obedient in the meek, lowly, humble, and 
self-denying spirit of our Lord Jesus, that in the pure 
love and righteousness o( God, all the dear babes 
and children of our Father might live in pure union 
:he Lord, and one with another, to bear a bold 
and faithful' testimony for the Lord ; whatever 
became of the body, it would (she toid them) be 
Well every way, both to the inward and outward 
man, and to the praise and glory of the Lord for 
ever. And many times when she ended her ex- 
hortation, she poured forth her spirit in supplication 
to the Lord with great fervency, and what follows 
is noted. * Oh ! thou powerful God, who art the 
1 searcher of all hearts, behold thy hand-maid; and 
f if there be any thing that is not upright before thee 
c in the heart of thy hand-maid, make it known to 

* me, thou searcher of hearts ; for thou knowest 

* 1 delight to stand approved in thy sight in all thy 
' ways ; for thou art my dear Father, and hast not 

* failed thy hand-maid in whatever thou hast called me 
' to unto this day ; but thy presence hath attended me, 
*■ and comforted me through every trial and besstment, 
' that the enemy of my soul hath compassed me about 
' withal. Oh, blessed God ! how hast thou kept and 
c preserved me to thyself, and through the power of 



I PIETY PROMOTED. 383 

^the Lord Jesus Christ made me to trample upon 
4 the enemy of my soul's peace : therefore in the 

* name and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, doth 
*• my soul praise thee, O my God, for my preservation 

* in the power and authority of thy spirit, to bear 

* my faithful testimony for thee my God, ' all my 

* days until I hav,e finished my course in thy will. 

* Oh Lord ! my strength and life for ever and ever. 

* And, dear Father, look upon thy poor oppressed 
4 ones, that have no life but in thee: oh! how do 
c they cry in a sense of their misery : Lord help, or 

* we die : oh Lord i thou knowest their necessities, 
' and their wants are not hid from thee, whose 
c righteousness without thee is as filthy rags : there- 

* fore do they cry unto thee, nothing will satisfy 
'them but thy presence. Oh, powerful Father! 

* raise up thy Own begotten in the power and 
c authority of the Lord jesus Christ, to reign over 
c all its besetments, that the mourner may rejoice, 
' and the bowed down head may be lifted up,- and 
'■every hungry and thirsty soul satisfied with the 
' bread and water of life, which thou freely handest 

* forth by trie hand of our Mediator Christ Jesus our 

* Lord,* not for any thing that we Have done, or do, 

* but for thy own name's sake, that all flesh and 
'boasting may be laid in the dust., and all crowns cast 
6 down before thee, that thou alone may have all 

* the glory, whose right it is over all, saith my soul, 
1 for ever and ever. And yet notwithstanding that 
*a!l we have or receive, is in thy free mercy in 

* Christ Jesus, yet this giveth not any liberty to sin, 
' oh I Lord, thou knowest, but rather engagest us 
' that are born again to abhor ourselves, and to 

* stand upon our watch diligently, that the enemy 
c may not enter with any of his wiles, to cause us 

* to abuse thy grace and free mercies, which thou 
' hast so freely manifested to us, in the name of the 

* Lord Jesus, when we had not any power to help 



384 PIETY PROMOTED. 

* ourselves : therefore dotli my soul, with the souls» 

* of thy dear and faithful children, cry unto thee to 

* keep us pure in thy holy power, that in meekness 
1 and true sincerity of heart, we may wait upon 
' thee, and be obedient in whatever thou calls us 
1 unto, even to the loss of husband, or wife, or 
f children, or what ever else thou requirest, if it be. 
1 to the laying down of the outward man, for thy 
' glorious truth, it will be well every way with all 
1 that hive not any comfort or help but in thee, 

* thou ever-living God, to whom be all glory and 
1 honour for ever. And holy, glorious Father of. 

* life, bless and preserve all the people that make 
1 mention of thy holy and eternal truth, here, and 
1 here-away, and all my fellow-prisoners, with all 
1 thy suffering members every where, and my dear 

* husband and children, God bless ,and preserve 

* [hem, and take care of them : oh ! my God, do, 

* well lor them every way, in keeping them faithful, 

* with my own soul, unto the end of our days, 

* whether they be few or many, thy will be done. 
1 Oh ! thou holy eternal God, keep thy dear children 

* from whence 1 came : oh Lord ! thou knows how 

* dear they are to me; but I commit them wholly 
4 to thy care, oh ! my God ; whom I know certainly 
' will never fail them that are of an upright heart, 
' and cannot be satisfied but with thy living eternal 
' presence in the Lord Jesus, to whom I commit 

* them all, if I neyer see their faces in the outward 

* any more; I know it will be w r ell both with me 
4 and them, as we give. up unto thee, to be ordered 

* according to thy will, our little time we have here 

* to be upon the earth ; tp the glory and honour of 

* thy great name, thou everlasting glorious Father 
( of life, .to whom alone it doth belong, saith my 
' soul, with the souls of all thy beloved and faithful 

* children and servants, that thou hast chosen to 

* glorify ;thee, who alone is God over all, blessed 



PIETY PPvCMOTED. .385 

* for ever, and evermore/ And when she had 
done, a friend asked her how she did, she said, 

* I am weak, but I wsuld go home :' * What/ said 
the friend, * to thy eternal home?' she smiled and 
said, c Yea, when it pleaseth my heavenly Father.' 
Her tender and loving husband being there with 
her, drew near unto her, and she in much love 
stroaked him on the face with her hand, when tears 
trickled down his cheeks, and friends weeping by 
her, after a little time she put her husband from 
her, • and said, c Give me up freely into the arms of 
' my heavenly Father*/ and she spake no more, but 
within a little time finished her course with joy, 
and laid down her body in peace, near the 4th hour 
in the morning, the 17th of the. Tenth month, 1665. 



T3 0BERT HATTON, of Hatton, in Cheshire, 
•^ was an eminent minister of the gospel, and 
faithful in his labours and travels to preach the same 
for many years, of a good example, and adorned the 
doctrine of Christ, and in his innocent life preached 
righteousness at home and abroad. He was a man 
of substance, solid and grave, and had a good sense 
of God upon his spirit, and a divine understanding 
of things that tended to the honour of God, and 
the churches peace ; he dearly loved unity and 
laboured earnestly to promote it j every appearance 
of that which obstructed it was grief to him, but 
the increasing fellowship of the church his soul 
rejoiced in : he was zealous for the holy truth, and 
concerned for the glory of God •, his soul hated the 
very appearance of evil, and a sharp reprover of the 
loose, profane, heady and high-minded, and such 
that were lovers of pleasures, more than lovers of 
God ; and being a professor of the wisdom that is 
from above, was mild in exhortation, and loved 
Vol. I. R 



3$6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

tenderness in whomsoever it appeared, and ready to 
help the weak. In suffering, of a noble spirit, bold* 
for. the truth, wholly resigned in the will of God, 
come what would come, being a man of courage* 
ami gave great encouragement unto suffering friends-, 
a faithful follower of the Lamb, whatever tribulations 
or imprisonments he met with, or fines that were 
imposed upon him, for the testimony- that the Lord 
had given him to bear. And when spoken to not to 
preach, he mildly answered, * If the Lord kindle a 
4 sacrifice, who can forbear to offer.' Ami where- 
over he travelled, he left a good .savour behind 
bun. 

The day before he departed this life, some of his 
friends were with him, to whom lie spake of things 
relating to the inner man, and said cheerfully, ' My 

* spirit is very easy, and there is no guilt or burthen 

* upon me : ' and at their parting, he said, l The 
c £jOrd knows whether we may see the faces one of 
4 another agaiu ' And the day following laid down 
his head no dgubt in peace with God, and is at rest. 



PLIZABETII HUNTINGTON, daughter of 
■^-^ Robert Huntington, of Bowsted-hill, in Cum- 
berland, was of an innocent life and blameless 
conversation, and a good example of a meek and 
gentle spirit, careful and tender over all in whom 
the least appearance of truth manifested itself. And 
when it pleased the Lord God by his mighty power, 
to raise her up as an instrument in his hand -to declare 
his wonders, and shew forth his praise, her travels 
and labours were great for the truth's sake, to turn 
people unto ^the Lord ; being not satisfied to eat her 
morsel of bread alone : and her faithfulness to truth, 
was as her crown to her latter end. 

About the Seventh month, 16783 her mouth was 



PIETY PROMOTED. 387 

opened by the power of the Lord, in which she 
grew exceedingly in the truth, and the Lord gave 
her wisdom abundantly, and she became valiant for 
the Lord, and bore an honourable testimony for his 
name and truth, and was a good example, and by 
her faithfulness many were turned to the Lord, for 
she laboured earnestly for the good of all people ; 
and in the year 1679 she travelled with William 
Johnson, and Jane Seally, into Northumberland, 
Bishoprick, and Yorkshire. 

And in 1680 she visited friends in Scotland, with 
her companions Frances Liddle and Richard Perkin, 
and returned to her father's house after about three 
months travel. And soon after went again into 
Northumberland, Bishoprick, and Yorkshire, and 
returned to her father's in the Sixth month. And 
upon the 3d of the Seventh month was taken sick, 
and after some time, she -said to her sister, * I must 
4 leave this troublesome world, and go into immor- 
1 tality;' and the Lord kept her near to himself; 
and as though she had fallen asleep, she laid down 
her head in peace on the 9th of the Seventh month, 
and was buried the 10th, in the Twenty-third year 
of her age. In the ministry two years. 



"PDWARD JEFFERYS, of Charlecot in Wilt- 
_-*- J shire, was concerned, after he had spoken 
several precious words to those that were with him 
upon his death-bed, to give forth the following 
paper, which was taken from him hy Andrew 
Shepperd, and being remarkable and prophetical, 
it is here inserted, viz. 

A word of exhortation and warning from the servant 
of the Lord, Edward Jefferys, which on the 4th 
of the Eleventh month, 1685, the power of the 
R2 



388 PIETY PROMOTED.. 

Lord was in him, and it constrained him pow- 
erfully to exhort all to faithfulness, saying, 

* Dear hearts ! a trying day is yet a coming on 
c this nation; for the Lord will yet farther visit it, 
4 and he will sweep away thousands to the grave. 
4 I prophesy of it in the pure fear of Almighty God, 

* who speaks through me his instrument, which has 

* followed him faithfully, and now heaven's joys are 

tared for me, and for all those that faithfully 
w him, as I have done : I have walked in the 

* narrow way of life and peace ; but how many are 

* running in the broad way that leads to destruction. 

* All my time from my youth upward, I was 
4 inclinable to that which was good : and who would 

.1 away his day in vanity and folly ? seeing the 

o^ time that we have here, to that we 

4 shall have hereafter. And, dear hearts, be not 

* concerned for me, although the Lord is pleased 

* to remove me, he will raise up many friends, 

* when I am pone, for I must certainly go the way 

* of all flesh, and it will be but a little fime, but 
4 you will come after me. Therefore I desire yt^u 
4 may so walk, as becomes the blessed truth of our 

* God 3 for because of pride, the Lord is offended 

* with many that are under the profession of the 
4 blessed truth, which I have sought to promote in 

4 my day, and that the Lord would carry it on to , 

* his own praise ; often hath my heart been bowed 
4 down in the night season ; often intreating the 
c Lord in behalf of all; often crying to the Lord 
1 for the restoration of poor fallen man, universally 
' for all ; often hath my spirit been poured out to 

* the Lord for this king James the Second that now 

* is, that he might" be a promoter of the blessed 
4 truth and righteousness in his day : but I fear 
4 whether this will be the man ; yet, I say, the Lord 

* will raise up one in his stead, that shall be as a 



Piety promoted. 3 s 9 

' nursing father, 2nd as a nursing mother in Israel. 
* God's truth shall prosper in this land.' 
fourth of the Eleventh month, 1C85. 

The deceased was an honest faithful man in his 
day, and a minister of the gospel of peace, and 
laboured therein freely for the good of souls, and 
died in peace with God, and is at rest. 



]\TARGARET BERRY, wife oftVilliam Berry, 
of Choptank, in Maryland, was a mother in 
Israel, a teacher of good things, desired the good of 
all, and the Lord was with her; she was of a meek 
spirit, diligent in meeting, and stirred up friends 
thereunto, faithful to the Lord in all her trials and 
exercises she met with in this world, not wilnng to 
gratify the world's spirit ; but ready to testify against 
all superfluity in what kind soever, as in apparel, 
or other ways, went plain and decent in modest 
apparel, with sobriety,, and was exemplary therein 
to young women, preferring a meek and quiet 
spirit, as the best ornament, willing to do good to 
all, especially to the household of faith, careful to 
See all things in order in her family, discreet, 
chaste, obedient in her place, ready to give up her 
husband freely to the Lord's service even to the last, 
loved unity amongst friends. 

And as she lav upon her death-bed, (her husband 
being from home in the service of truth, with 
Daniel Gould, of Rhode Island, in and about Aca- 
mack) before several friends, she said, ' I am freely 
' given up to the will of the Lord, and if it be his 
' will to remove me hencr, I am well satisfied with 
' what his will and pleasure is, and am satisfied that 
c I shall lay down my head in peace with- him, 
'•.blessed" be his name for ever: and though my 

R3 



3 i>o PIETY PROMOTED. 

' pain be great upon my outward man, I am kept 
' and borne above my pain, through the goodness of 
' the Lord, in that I have nothing laid to my 
c charge \ but that I have discharged my conscience 
' in his sight bv his assisting power.' So finding 
herself very weak in body, not knowing how short 
her time might be, desired her brother Pitt to write 
what she had on her mind by way of a will, and said 
at that time, s I would have all left to my dear 1ms- 
4 band (if living;/ and if any part of what I have 

* done, or the whole, be not agreeable to his mind, 

* iie may make it void at his pleasure ; for I would 
1 not do any thing that should grieve him, for he 

* never deserved it at my hands. 1 

Then she also desired him to write a letter for her 
to her husband, as foiloweth. 

* Dear and loving husband William Berry, after 
my e.'.deared love to thee and dear Daniel Gould, I 
tl ought meet to let thee know, that I being very 
weak in body, and not knowing what the will of 
the Lord is touching my outward man $ yet in this 
am I comforted and refreshed, that the Lord is not 
wanting to refresh me with the smiles of his coun- 
tenance, and am satisfied it shall be well with my 
inward man, and that when I shall lay down my 
head, it will be in peace with the Lord, into whose 
hands I commit myself, being freely given up, whe- 
ther life or death, which is more satisfaction than 
my tongue can express. 

c So, dear heart, having something in my mind, to 
have a few lines writ as a will, and I could not see 
thy face, (which thing I more desired than any out- 
ward enjoyment) so could not confer with thee -, yet 
what I have done in that kind, if I should not see thy 
face in mutability, it is not my mind to do any thing 
to grieve thee, or against thy mind: but when thou 
perusest what I have writ, thou mayest^ if it please 



PIETY PROMOTED 391 

* thee, perform or make void at thy pleasure, which I 
1 leave to thy consideration, not desiring to grieve 
'thee, nor that thou shouldst'be streightened in thy 
'mind or otherwise upon this account, or bring thy- 
1 self under upon any account, but as I have said, it 
fr may be with great clearness: so committing thee, 
' with myself, unto the Lord, I take leave, and re- 
' main thy true and loving wife, 

* Margaret Berry/ 

The 12th of the Second Menth, i<SS8. 

The day she departed, several friends being there', 
she desired them to be called together, and said, ' I 

* have something to say, if the Lord enable me; 
' as touching my burial, my dear husband being front 1 

* home, must be left to you, and I desire there may be 

* nothing of great preparation for the same, though 

* some may say it is covetousness, it-matters not; we 

* have enough : but I am against gratifying the 

* world's spirit - ? . for since I professed ' the truth I 

* never had unity with superfluity at burials or mar- 

* riages, especially at burials, and have borne my tes- 
' timony often against such things, as some of you 

* are my witnesses, and my dear husband is one with 
'me, and I know if such a thing should be at my 
1 burial it would grieve him, who is gone upon truth's 
' account, and I have freely given him up. So if any 
'friend have any thing to object they may freely 

* speak.' 

All friends were one with her in that concern, and 
she further said, ' 1 desire you may all keep in unity 
''and be of one mind/ And desired James Berry to 
make her coffin, being cheerful in her spirit •, and de^ 
sired friends to remember her dear love to her dear 
husband, and dear Daniel Gould and friends. At ano- 
ther time she said unto friends that were with her, 
'Have your eyes to God, whom I desire may support' 
f the little remnant that is left behind -. there are but 
R 4 



392 PIETY PROMOTED. 

' a few, but the Lord is all-sufficient, and as you are' 

* faithful you will be preserved ; for indeed there are^ 

* a few that have the weight of truth upon their spi- 
4 rirs. The Lord, if it be his will, raise up standard- 

* bearers, and carry on his own work.' At another 
time she said, * Sure people had need have nothing to 

* do at this time but to wait upon God, and when it 

* shall please him to remove them ; and if it be so' 

* with me, O how will many do when their dying. 

* hour approaches I ' Then said, ' Lord hasten thy 
1 work, tor there is no ease upon this feather bed for 
• 4 my body, but I skill be at ease when my body is laid 

* in it;> cold bed of clay.' Some hours before she de- 
parted she desired all friends to go to bed, and took 
her leave of them, as if she was going to her long 
home fas indeed she was.) A little before she de- 
parted the Lord gave her ease, which she said she 
never expected in her body, for which she praised the 
name of the Lord •, so lay still afterwards, and all 
was well with her, being freed from the pangs of 
death, as appeared by her patient waiting the ap- 
pointed time of the Lord, as if she was slumbering. 
So in that quiet stillness continued till she gave up the 
ghost, and no doubt but she is blessed : as she lived in 
the Lord, she died in him, and is rested from her la- 
bours, and her good works followed her. 

She had given many other heavenly exhortations 
.not noted to several friends, and to her youngest son, 
and others of her family, and several relations, ex- 
porting all to faithfulness, diligence, and true humi- 
lity before the Lord. 

Her age, the day of her death, and place of burial, 
I have no exact account of. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 393 

rpHOMAS FELL, late of Chapel-house, in the 
-*- parish of Ireba, and county of Cumberland, was 
convinced in the year 165?, it being soon after the 
Lord had revealed his truth in the North -, and he was 
also the first married amongst friends, at least in 
those parts. And although he owned marriage an 
ordinance of Gcd, yet he could not find in all the 
holy scriptures, that God ever appointed any of his 
priests or ministers to marry any, or appointed they 
should have money for so doing ; yet he was cast in 
prison at Carlisle for not being married by a priest, 
and giving him money. And there the said Thomas 
Fell remained prisoner one year, and before lie had 
his liberty his wife died, and afterwards was prisoner 
near ten years at the suit of one Edward R elf and 
Hugh Simpson, impropriators, for not paying ten- 
pence per year for tithes, which they called prescrip- 
tion-money ; for which he suffered cheerfully, and 
with patience, never murmured ; and after it pleased 
the Lord that he got his liberty clearly he travelled in 
the public service of truth, bearing testimony thereto, 
freely preaching the gospel of Christ in England and 
Scotland, and divine openings of heavenly things he 
had, and was of a blameless life and conversation, 
and serviceable where he lived, and as he grew in 
years, he grew in gravity and zeal for the Lord, and 
for the promotion and prosperity of the great work 
the Lord hath begun in the earth, even to the day of 
his departure. A friend visiring him, near the same 
hour of his departure, his memory was perfect, and 
he said, c Truth is as precious as -ever, for which I 
c have been freely given up to suffer, labour, and tra- 
* vel, both in our own county and in Scotland.' 
Indeed he became as a pillar in the Lord's house, and 
when, by reason of bodily weakness, he could not 
travel, he was concerned that friends might be kep£ 
in unity, and walk in the fellowship of the gospel. 
And a Tittle before his departure he enquired whe- 
R 5 



194 PIETY PROMOTED. 

ther they were in love one with another, and if there 
:;o rent or division ; and when it was reported 
to ]j';m that friends were mostly well, and truth pros- 
pered, he was comforted, and in great peace he de- 
parted this life in 1697, in unity with the brethren., 
jnty-three years. 



lyiLLIAM TOVEY, late of Henley upon 

Thames, Oxfordshire, maltster, was convinced 

of the blessed truth in his young days, and lived t< 1 

good old age, and had many children, whom he had 

train up in the way they should walk, and 

in he, through faithfulness, hath found peace : 

he was a just anil religious man, careful to discharge 

luty to Almighty God, and to preserve Ids peace 

with him, through J this dear Son, whom 

(>od hath sent .1 light into the world, that all men 

through him might believe, and by that power, which 

through faith he received, he was enabled to shew a 

and exemplary conversation, and therefore did 

adorn the doctrine of Christ our Saviour, and in die 

oi his bodily weakness was kept in a sweet and 

r frame of spirit ; and a few days before he de- 

d out of this mortal life, his children being by 

him, he, in sweetness and tenderness of spirit, said 

unto them, ' Be faithful to the Lord, and serve him 

1 in ycur generation.' And in particular, calling his 

son Caleb unto him, and taking him by the hand, 

said, ' Dear Caleb, the Lord hath a blessing in store 

' for thee, be thou faithful ; ' and repeating it, said, 

* Be thou faithful, and the Lord hath a blessing in 

* store for thee j 5 with more weighty expressions not 
noted ; and he added unto Caleb, saying, ■ I desire 
' tJigu mayest succeed in my place j but some may 

* say, thou being but a young man> thou art too for- 

* ward j mind it not, but be thou faithful,, and keep 



PIETY PROMOTED^. ' 395. 

* thine eye to the Lord, and he will be 1 thy reward/ 
Then he said, * Oh! that a young generation riaayc 

* be raised up in this place, (Henley), if it be the wilt 
r of the Lord,- that may bear a faithful testimony tcr 
4 his truth, his living truth. I am not without hopes,- 
' though at present not very likely, for there is a great 
'deal of rubbish to be removed out of the way.* 
Adding, ' It is not high notions nor a y bare profession 

< that will do it \' saying, * It is heart work/ Being 
asked to drink some cordial, he said, c It is my cor- 
' dial to do the will of my God \ adding, c I did not 

* know I should have any thing to say ; .but it is the 

* Lord's doings/ Then said to them present, ' Be 
-* not backward in going to meeting, and say, we are 

* hindered : no, no, that is the devil's work ; but be 

* valiant, miss no opportunity •, for as you are dil-i- 
( gent in waiting upon the Lord-, that may be revealed 
fr to you at one time, that may not at another, or af- 
f - ter wards/ Then speaking of the goodness of the 
Lord to the humble, and how he guided those whose 
hearts are upright towards him, said in much tender-* 
ness, ( Seek the Lord whilst he may be found, call 
c upon him whilst he is near :. let the wicked forsake 
c his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, 
c and let him return unto the Lord, and he- will have 
1 mercy upon him, and to our. God, for he will 
*■ abundantly 'pardon/ And then prayed tenderly, 
and fervently to the Lord for the prosperity cf his 
truth in that place ; and expressed his satisfaction 
he had in discharging his duty in the sight of the 
Lord, saying, ' The quarterly-meeting was pleased to> 
'. confer the care of the church in- this place upon me/ 
(i. e. he being desired to take care of the poor, and to 
have an eye over the professors of truth there, that 
they might walk as became their hoiy profession.) * I 
' never did any thing hra overly way \ no, no, but in> 
' humility and tenderness, I watched over them for: 
i good , though. I have been, spurned at by soma for- 



-396 PIETY PROMOTED. 

4 it, but the Lord forgive them.' He was preserved 
very sensible, and in great patience all the time of his 
illness, several times saying he had no clog upon him, 
but was freely given up, saying, ( I am ready, come 
' my Lord when thou pleasest, I am ready/ Ano- 
ther time he said, ' The Lord doth not withhold his 
4 living presence from me; 5 so lifting up his hands 
again, said, ' AH is well, all is well, I am ready.' 
And near his departure, several of his children being 
by him, he looking upon them said, * The Lord bless 

* you all, the Lord bless you altogether, and preserve 

* you in his blessed truth until your last breath :' and 
then giving order who should be invited to his fune- 
ral, he said his end in desiring many should be there 
was for the salvation of their souls ; and if but one 
should be reached and come to the knowledge of the 
trutli and be saved, it would be well, and that which 
this good old man desired ; then said, ' I am wholly 

* given up in ihe will of the Lord, and I hope he will 
' make my passage easy ; ' and indeed the Lord was 
pleased to answer his desire, for he went away with- 
out sigh or groan, the year i~«o, being Seventy- 
seven years old, and is entered into the joy of his 
Lord, and by faith, he being dead, yet speaketh, or 
is yet spoken of, as it is said of righteous Abel. And 
the weighty sayings following, being found of his 
own hand-writing, some years after his decease, by 
his son Caleb, are here printed, being worthy of ob- 
servation. 

' Stand in awe of the living God, that created thee 

* to glorify his name. 

' Refrain from all evil, and love righteousness. 
* Do nothing that may bring dishonour to truth, if 

* the whole world might be gained thereby. 

c According to the ability or talents that the Lord 

* doth give thee inwardly or outwardly, do thou serve 

* the Lord, his truth, and people. Thase that pro- 

* fefs and possess the truth, that love it above all 



, PIETY PROMOTED. 397 

1 things, that can venture all for truth's sake ; such 

* do thou have true unity with, but not with back- 
' biters, or careless professors of truth. 

6 If any difference doth arise betwixt friends or 

* others, do thou endeavour to put an end to it, in the 
$ spirit of meekness ; the rough nature is Esau, but 
' the meek and lowly is the true seed. 

' Do justly, love to be merciful, that thou mayest 

* walk humbly with thy God •,' that when thou hast 
c ended the days of thy natural life, thou mayest lay 

* down thy head in peace with the living God ; which 

* far exceeds all the world, or the world's enjoy-' 

* ments. And in so doing, thou wilt not only an- 
' swer the requirings of the Lord, but of thy dear 
' and tender father also. 



Tl/HLLIAM BEVAN, of Swansea, in the county 
* of Glamorgan, aged Seventy-four years, being 
sick and weak in body, and judging the time of his 
dissolution to be nigh, said unto his son Silvanus 
Bevan, his daughter Hester being present, { I desire 

* that you may live in love together when I am gone, 

* and keep to meetings, and let your houses be open 
x to those that bring glad tidings of the kingdom of 

* peace, for they are faithful labourers, and if you 
' have but little, Goa\ will add a blessing.' And 
being asked if he would take any thing to support 
his spirits, he refused, and said, ' All is well, and 
c that he saw no cloud of darkness before him, but 
f blessed God, that he had brought him into the inner 

* court, and if he had strength he could sing for joy j' 
with many other comfortable expressions. At ano- 
ther time when weak in bed, his son Michael, James 

- Picton, and kinsman William Bevan, and his son Sil- 
vanus Bevan, being present, he said to this effect, 

* Grandson William, be obedient to those thou art 



398 PIETY PROMOTED. 

under ; fear God always, and run not into the 
fashions of the world ; but behave thyself humbly 
and lowly, and God will add a blessing to thy en- 
deavours. Ami son Michael, thou knowest much, 
and God hath given thee much understanding, 
thou hast a hirge memory of the holy scriptures, 
mind the gift of God's Holy Spirit, and then thou 
wilt be a good man, and a serviceable man, and a 
preacher of righteousness in thy life and conversa- 
tion.' He also exhorted his sons to be kind to 
r, 'and to honour and assist her in 
the choice of a husband, that he might be one that 
fears God, and lived uprightly, and on all occasions ; 
' for/ said he, ' she hath been careful and tender of me 
your mother died, and a support to my old 
: so live in love together, that others may be-' 

* ],;i you as a family of love, and then the Lord 
1 will bless you.' At another time, his son Silvanus, 
and many of his grand-children being by his bed- 
side, he said, * Fashion not yourselves after this 
1 world, but transform yourselves to the image of the 
c dear Sen of God ; and be not puffed up in pride 
1 and gaudy apparel, but in the fear of God, adorn 

* yourselves modestly, as becomes Christians to do, 
1 and keep to the small grain of the kingdom, and 
4 then you will grow and nourish in holiness to the 
e praise of God, and lie down in peace, as you see 

* me now.' And renewing his advice, of being a 
family of love when he was gone, said, ' Strive not 
' who shall be greatest, but who shall be the hum- 
c blest and most serviceable amongst you, for that 
c will be joy and peace in the Holy Ghost : but an 
c exalted mind brings pain and trouble \ I know it : 
f but if you be careful and obedient to that small 

* grain which God hath sown in your hearts, he will 

* fulfil his promise, I am sure he will fulfil his pro- 
*■ mise, and you will lie down in peace. I have left 

* something to every one of you, if you do well it 



PIETY PROMOTED. 399 

'will be a blessing, if not, a curse, as the children 

* of Israel desiring flesh, not obeying the Lord, not 
c content with* their condition; God gave them flesh 
' in his wrath, and they died whilst it was between 
\ their teeth. So to the Lord I leave you, desiring 
' him to bless you, which is the best portion I can 
1 give you.' So his children all kissing of him, con- 
cluded at this time in much tenderness and tears. 

Many other comfortable expressions dropped from 
him, which were not taken in writing, nor can it be 
justly remembered, importing tender advice and ex- 
hortation to his children, shewing forth greatly the 
joys of a peaceable conscience in our Lord Jesus 
Christ. At another time, though very sick, and in 
much pain, about midnight, on a sudden was still 
and quiet, and in a little while said, ' The Lord 
i hath removed the pains of death, his glory shines in 
( his weak servant. Hallelujah, hallelujah, praises, 

* praises, be to him for ever ;' with other good ex- 
pressions, so continued singing a minute or two, as 
one that the Lord had assured of his salvation, and. 
exalted above the fears of death, or the terrors of the 
world to come, being supported by the spirit and 
power of religion, which the agonies of death are 
not able to shake. So having seen twenty of his 
childrens' children, and growing weaker and weaker 
in body, resigned up this life in that quietness and 
innocency that infants go to sleep, the 5th of the 
Twelfth month, 1701, and was buried by his wife in 
friends' burying-place in Swansea, and this good old 
man, through faith and obedience in and to the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and by a patient continuing in well- 
doing to the end, hath no doubt the reward of im- 
mortality, eternal life, and inherits glory, honour, and 
peace with God in his holy kingdom, and will do for 
ever and ever. 



4«o PIETY PROMOTED. 

"V1CHOLA3 BEARD, of Rottingdean, in the 
-^ county of Sussex, was in his youth a tender 
seeking young man after the knowledge of the Lord, 
and for near twenty or thirty years would often ride 
many miles to hear the best reputed teachers the 
times afforded. 

In the year 1655 he was convinced of the blessed 
truth of God, by the ministry of that eminent ser- 
vant of Christ George Pox, and received it in the 
thereof, and was faithful thereto, and it pleased 
the Lord to call him into the ministry, and he la- 
boured in the work thereof in the county wherein he 
lived, and the neighbouring counties; he was a con- 
stant attender ot quarter y, monthly, and weekly 
meetings, as long as strength of body would admit ; 
and after that failed, that he could not go far, conti- 
nued visiting the nearest meetings, constant, sound in 
doctrine, fervent in prayer; and to his children 
would often say, ■ That which is right do, and the 

* Lord be with you.' And in the sense of the Lord's 
goodness, would often say, ( Be thou bowed before 

* the Lord, oh! my soul.' And growing weak in 
body, being in his chamber, and some of his children 
with him, with lifted up hands and eyes, said, i I 

* must leave you to the teachings of the Lord, and 

* the Lord in mercy be with you;' and being weak 
in his bed, in melody of spirit, was heard to say, 
' Oh! Lord, my soul blesseth thee, and all that is 

* within me magnifieth thy holy name;' and often 
desired to depart, and be with Christ in peace, which 
he also signified would be his portion in the world to 
come. So departed this life in peace with the Lord, 
and unity with the brethren, the 2d of the Fifth 
Month, 1702, having ordained in his will, that his 
executor should entertain his friends the people called 
Quakers in his house, as he in his life-time did : aged 
Eighty years 5 a minister about Thirty years. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 401 

And to shew he was not only called to believe, but 
also to suffer, I shall briefly recite some of his suf- 
ferings. 

For his testimony against paying tithes in this gos- 
pel-day, he had taken from him by one Robert Baker, 
priest of Rottingdean, for one years' tithes demanded, 
twelve oxen, six cows, and one bull) which were sold 
the same day at Lewis-clift fair for one hundred and 
eleven pounds five shillings, but worth more. 

For the worship of God, or meeting only for that 
. end, and keeping the testimony of a good conscience, 
in obeying Christ's command, " Swear not at all," 
and abiding in his doctrine, and for nof bearing arms, 
or sending out in the militia, and not frequenting the 
public worship ; he was prosecuted on the statute 
of twenty pounds per month; and underwent impri- 
sonment, and sustained the loss of his goods,' and 
many other abuses ; yet it pleased the Lord to sup- 
port and bless him j so that although his loss was 
more than one thousand pounds, and his charge of 
children considerable, being the father of above 
twenty, yet he gave them that lived good portions, 
being twelve j also lived to see several of them well 
settled in the world, leaving his youngest son in his 
own seat, in a much more plentiful estate than his 
parents left him, though he was a prisoner several 
years. 



"OLIZ ABETH HOPKINS, wife of Thomas Hop- 
- A - J kins, of Glastonbury, in Somersetshire, loved 
truth, and those that were faithful to it, although she 
was but young in it ; and when taken sick was not 
discontented, but resigned unto the will of Ge>d. 
And being asked whether she was willing to die, she 
said, * I am fitted to die, and fully satisfied ; I find 
' nothing in my way that hinders me from peace 



402 PIETY PROMOTED: 

c with the Lord ;' and lay often praising the Lord for 
his great loving-kindness and mercy to her, in brings 
ing her to the knowledge of the truth : and towards 
her end, said, * Lord make my passage out of this 
1 world easy ;' which he was pleased to grant, and 
she passed away like a lamb, or one going to sleep. 
She departed in true and living faith the 16th of the 
Sixth Month, 1703, after several months weakness* 
and was buried in friends' burying-ground at Glas- 
tonbury. 

"JOHN BEERE, of Weymouth, in the county of 
1 Dorset, was born of believing parents in the year 
1659, and when he grew up he embraced the same 
faith then, and professed truth in much plainness 
and sincerity, and was, through the power of it, of a 
blameless conversation, a good example, and of great 
service in the church. 

In the year 1693, being about Thirty-four years of 
age, he received a gift of the ministry, in which 
he was a faithful labourer, though he did not travel 
far, but had good service in his own country, and was 
well beloved and esteemed of by his friends and near 
neighbours, to whom he administered much tender 
and. wholesome advice ; and in his last sickness, two 
days before he died, he sent for a friend and neigh- 
bour, who when he came asked him how he did ; he 
replied, ' I have but one pain to encounter with, that 
1 is the pain of my body, for my mind is at ease.' 
And at another visit of the same friend he repeated 
the same. The day that he departed there were se- 
veral friends and others to visit him, to whom he 
gave seasonable advice, desiring them to be faithful, 
saying, * Although vou. are few in number, if you 
' continue faithful the Lord will increase you-,' and 
desired them to make their peace with tne Lcrd in 
the time of their health, for ou a death-bed they 



PIETY PROMOTED. 403 

would have enough to do to struggle with the pain 
of the body ; for he said if he had not made his 
peace with the Lord before- he came on a dying-bed 
he had been miserable. Another time, his eldest 
daughter asking how he did, he said, * I am waiting 
' for my change,' and desired his children to be 
obedient to their mother, and keep cut of all evil 
company. Many were the seasonable and com* 
fortable expressions which he gave forth in the time 
of his weakness that cannot be remembered. He 
died the 5th. of the Seventh month, 1703. Aged 
Forty-four years j a minister ten years. 



QARAH SCOTT, daughter of Francis Scott, of 
*^ Hambridge, in the county of Somerset, aged 
Thirteen years, wanting four days, being educated 
in the way of truth professed by the people called 
Quakers, from the age of three years, by her uncle 
and aunt Whiting, who took her as their own. She 
was of a loving and affable temper, and sober 
behaviour ; but of a weakly, constitution^ not given 
or addicted to any bad *words or actions; yet when 
she came upon a sick bed, it seemed hard some- 
times ior her to be reconciled to her sickness : but 
upon reading several places in the new testament, 
concerning afflictions and chastisements, as Heb. 
xii. &c. she came to be reconciled to both, and 
afterward received great satisfaction, so that her 
heart was often enlarged: in the love of God, and 
her soul did magnify the God of her salvation. 

Her uncle, J. Whiting, asked her if she was 
willing to die, she said, c If I had assurance of the 
' love of God, I should:' then he asked her if she 
had any thing that lay upon her mind that troubled 
her, she answered no, nothing in particular, but 
that she had lived no better, or more circumspect \ 



404 PIETY PROMOTED. 

but upon his mentioning to her the mercy of God 
in Christ Jesus, who died for her, she said, ■ If it 
1 be the will of God to take me to himself, I am 
' content;' and she frequently prayed in secret unto 
the Lord ; and once being spoken to when still, she 
Said, ' Let me alone, that 1 may meditate on my 
' God ;. er said she enjoyed the streams oi 

the love of Cod, but found (as she said) ' The 

* enemy so bi y, that it is hard to keep my mind 
f staid on t ,' adding, she was sorry fo* ..11' 
that did live wickedly, and lamented what many 
would do when they came upon a death-bed *, and 
desired hei aunt to advise one of her acquaintance 
to take more I are of her words and actions, or she 
WouH rd when she came upon a death-bed. 
And she said, ■ 1 have had much trouble, the enemy 
'having been busy, when 1 was in meetings, so 
1 that 1 looked out sometimes, and neglected the 
c inward work, for which I have known sorrow. — 

* I have gone through nights of sorrow, and prayer ; 
' but now I am made willing to die,' saying, 
4 I shall go to a glorious place, where there is no 

* temptation nor sorrow, and where all tears shall be 
' wiped from the eyes.' — adding, * My spirit is 
« comforted in the love of God, and if I had lived 
' more in the fear of God, I should have been 
' more comforted. — The Lord hath been good to 
' me, — I am willing to die ; it seemed hard to me 

* sometimes, yet now it is made easy.' — And said, 
*" All must be humbled, and brought low, one time 
4 or other •, they must bow ; if they will not bow in 

* mercy, they must in judgment.' Adding, * It is 
1 well for me that I have been afflicted \ else I 

* might not have known the things that belong to 
' my peace \ but now I cannot say I do not know 
' them, for I do now see them, and rejoice in them.' 
Next morning she expressed a concern for a near 
relation, desiring that she might live in the fear of 






PIETY PROMOTED. 405 

\Gocl, saying, iC The fear of the Lord is the be- 
" ginning of wisdom :" then lamented those that 
live in pride, and spent much time in adorning the 
body, and walking wantonly. After, she magnified 
.the Lord's goodness, saying, ' The Lord is a gracious 

* God, and of great mercy and righteousness, and 
' I trust in him.' And she prayed very devoutly, 
and implored the Lord's mercy, and praised him 
for his goodness, and gave good advice to those 
present, particularly to the party afore hinted, saying, 
'•Be careful of thy words and carriage, especially in 

* meetings, to keep in thy mind, for God is to be 

* worshipped in spirit and truth, and that God had 
c given her a measure of his grace, that she should 
~ e 'serve him whilst she was in health, for when she 

* did come to a sick bed, and be in pain, it would 
c be harder.' After, she said, ' Remember my love 
' to all friends that ask for me;' and then prayed, 
-saying, * Oh ! Lord Jesus, receive my soul, if it be 
c thy heavenly will : Oh ! Lord, I am truly resigned 
( to thy will : ,<3h ! Lord Jesus, come quickly, if it 
' be thy heavenly will, Oh ! Lord, and make my 
'.passage easy. — O Lord ! send thy angel to conduct 

* me to thy heavenly kingdom. — O Lord ! thou art 
'beautiful. O Lord! hear my prayer, and grant 

* me my request, if it be thy heavenly will : give 
' me power over the enemy -, he is a cunning enemy, 
1 a subtil serpent : O Lord ! keep me from his 
' temptations, who Jays his baits at every corner/— 
Again she said, ' There is nothing to be compared 
4 to thy love, all the world is but as a fading 

* flower. — Oh ! what will it avail a man, to gain the 
' whole world, and lose his own soul. Oh ! what 

* need have people to go with their heads so high, 
'when they must all be laid in the dust. O Lord! 

* thou art sweet, thy countenance is comely. O 

* Lord ! how hast thou refreshed me many a time, 
''after I have prayed unto, thee; oh! that -thou 



406 PIETY PROMOTED. 

c wouldest crown me with glory.' And said, c OM 

* that we may all meet again in the kingdom of 
' heaven.' — After, she said, * O Lord Jesus ! there 

* is none like unto thee, (the author and finisher of 
' our faith) to help, and none else can.' 

The day before she died, she said, * O Lord \ 
€ thou art the great physician of value, the heavenly 

* physician, who canst do that which none else can ; 

* thou canst raise from the dead ; speak the word, 

* and it shall be done: thou art a gracious God, 
1 and of great mercy, and full of righteousness: 

* thy mercies deserve to be had in everlasting 

* remembrance, from the beginning of the world, 
4 .to the end thereof. — Oh! I>ord Jesus, thou hast 
' tendered my spirit, and humbled my soul : thy 

■ works are too wonderful -to be [fully] spoken of.' 
With many other heavenly expressions; and in the 
evening, her relations thinking she had been de- 
parting, after some time she looked up, and said, 
1 Pray for me.' And her uncle Bowles being 
present, he found a concern upon him to pray to 
the Lord for her •, then she said to her aunt, * Do 

* not grieve when I am gone-,' and desired her the 
next time the Lord did visit her (in that manner) 
not to disturb her. And that night took her leave 
of all that were about her, in a very solemn manner^ 
-Liking them by the hand, and bidding them farewell; 
and after said to her aunt, ' Now I am just a going,' 
and said, ' Come Lord Jesus, come quickly, into 

■ thy hands I render my soul.' Her aunt Bowles 
coming in, asked her how it was with her, she 
answered, ' Very well,' which were her last words, 
and in a few minutes passed away without sigh or 
groan, on the 27th of the Eighth montli, 1703* 
Aged Thirteen years, wanting four days. And 
was buried the 30th of the same, from Bull and 
Mouth meeting-house, at friends' burying-ground, 
sear Bnnhill-nelds, London. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 407 

TVILLIAM FENNELL, aged about Twelve 
. years, son of "William Fennel 1, «of Youghall 
in Ireland, shop-keeper, took to his bed the 24th of 
the Twelfth month, 1703, and the Lord having 
visited him about two years before, and often fol- . 
lowed -him with the reproofs and convictions of his 
holy spirit, when he had sometimes been wild, and 
run to play among other children. And when he 
was brought on his sick bed, not many days after, 
he was under an inward exercise of mind, and he 
desired his mother to read by him-; and another 
time desired to have the ten commandments read to 
him •, which were, and he was asked how far he 
found he had kept them ; he answered he had not, 
.as he could remember, ever taken the Lord's name 
ia .vain, and that he loved and honoured his father 
-and mother, and had been careful noc to tell lies or 
false stories on any one, nor had he stole any thing, 
except taking some plumbs without asking leave, 
and hoped the Lord would pass it by, with what 
else he had done amiss •, and remaining very weak, 
he was asked if he was willing to die ; he answered^ 
*If I thought I was fit.' 

The 3d of the First month, two English friends 
being in town, he desired they might have a meet- 
ing in the chamber with him, which they" had, and 
he afterwards expressed his satisfaction therein, 
and then he broke forth in much trembling, saying, 

* O Lord! forgive all my faults I have done, and 

* have mercy and pity on my poor soul ; keep out 

* the enemy that is ready to come in upon me, for 

* none but thee, O Lord ! is able to do it : ' with 
much more, and then called for his sisters and 
brother, and exhorted them to love and fear God, 
and pray to him to fit them to die, and to love 
truth, and to go to meetings, and think upon God 
and good things, and the Lord would love them. 
And bid them do what thek father and mother 



4o8 PIETY PROMOTED. 

bid them, and be obedient to them, and look in 
their bibles, and they would find it was God's 
command to children to obey their parents, for it is 
well pleasing unto the Lord. 

And to one of his companions, being by, viz. 
Edward Lawndry, he said, ' Dost thou think thou 
1 art fit to die ?. if thou thinkest thou art not, then 

* pray to the Lord, and desire him to make thee fit, 

* and do not mind play too much;' saying he was 
sorry lie had so long ; but lie hoped the Lord 
would forgive him. — Lying still some time, being 
under a concern of mini, was asked what his 
concern was; and after some pause he answered, 
k 1 am desiring the Lord to bring me in with the 
1 rest of his lost sheep ; ' with more to that purpose, 
saying, ' I have cried unto him many a night, 
'since I have been not well; for I have been a 

* wild boy, and loved play too well, and when you 

* have sometimes corrected me, I took it a little 
1 hard ; but now I am glad you did, and I cannot 
' express the love I now have to you, for taking 
'that care of me; you did well; had you not 
' done it, I might have been wilder ; for,' said he, 
' the Lord hath been following me, and striving 
1 with me, to bring me down these two years, 
' and let me see when I have been running to play, 
' if I continued running on to be wild, then weeping, 
' wailing, and lamentation would be my portion ; 
< and sometimes I have turned back, and have gone 
' into the garret and wept bitterly, and have desired 

* the Lord to help me : but after, when enticed 
' by my comrades to go, I was not able to resist 
' the temptations, which was my great trouble, 

* and I have got into a secret place to endeavour 

* to retire, and often have prayed to the Lord in 
' the night-season on my knees, when others have 
■' been asleep.' — And this child cried out, saying, 
4 Oh ! the Lord loves solitariness, he doth not 



PIETY PROMOTED. 409 

J* 'iove laughing and joaking ; I never read that 

* Christ smiled, but often prayed and wept.' Then 
he prayed, c O Lord ! hear me, and have pity on 

* me ; for thou knowest I am very sore afflicted, 

* Lord help me : oh ! it is none but thou that canst 
f do it Lord. O Lord ! be near me, and suffer not 

* 'the enemy to prevail over me. 5 

And speaking of the Lord's prayer, this child 
said, ' I have much lamented how people teach 
' -their children the Lord's prayer, without minding 
1 the depth that is in it, saying, " Our Father which 
" art in heaven;" 'But they that remain in wick- 
( edness, are not his children, so cannot rightly call 
< him Father. " Hallowed be thy name." < But 
i too -many dishonour it by their wicked words. 
" Thy kingdom come:" c Oh ! but too few let the 

* Lord live and have dominion in them.' " Thy 
" will be done in earth," [' That is,' said lie, l m 

( oui earthen bodies] "As it is done in heaven \" ~ 
['And alas! we all know there is nothing but the 
' will of God done there] oh ! but how little of the 

* Lord's will is done here. " Give us this day our 
" daily bread :" c O Lord,' said he, * give me daily 

* bread from thee/ " Forgive us our trespasses, 
"as we forgive them that trespass against us:" 
6 But oh i how unwillingly do many people forgive 
s them that trespass against them.-— How can such 
( expect forgiveness of the Lord?' " Lead us not 
" into temptation, but deliver us from evil 5" (and 
then he said-,) c Oh ! leave me not in temptation, but 
' deliver me from the tempter ; . for thine is the 
c kingdom, and all power is with thee, and glory 

* for ever. This prayer,' said he, c people teach 
c their children by heart, and think it is enough. 
c I have been at play with a boy in the street. 

* and his father hath called to him, saying, Have 

* you said your prayers to day ? and he hath gone 

* in from me, and stood behind the door, and hath 

Vol. I. S 



410 PIETY PROMOTED. 

* said this prayer, as fast as he qould for haste to 

* g° t0 P^ a y a g a * n > I hearkened to him all the 
1 while:' such careless ones he lamented; and he 
gave good advice to many that came to him, and 
advised the servant-maid against speaking bad words; 
and though his breath grew short, he said, f I, desire 

* to please the Lord always ;' and so continued in a 
wonderful manner: he was very resigned unto the 
will of the Lord, and desired his parents tc give 
him up freely, and then took his leave, in .great 
tenderness, of his father, mother, sisters, and brother, 
and relations ; desiring to have his love remembered 
to his grandmother, ami some other relations and 
friends that were not present; and pausing, he said, 

* Oh ! what joy 1 feel ! Then praising the Lord, 
white strength remained, till near the minute of his 
departure, and resigning himself to the Lord : his 
last words heard were, ' O Lord !' for what followed 
could not be understood, his breath failing, and so 

ly departed, being the 14th of the First month, 
17c]. Aged Twelve years and a half and Two 
days; kept his bed about eighteen days. 



CAR AH SOUND Y, wife of William Soundy, 
^ of Reading, and daughter of William Tovey, 
of Henley-upon-T'hames, in Oxfordshire, maltster, 
was trained up in the fear of God, and when on 
her death-bed, she breathed forth in an extraordinary 
manner praises to the Lord ; and said, ' The Lord 

* is a merciful God, I find him so to my soul ; 

* he spreadeth a table for his children, and the 

* dainties he sets thereon, and his children feed 

* thereat. He honoureth me with his presence, 
f and that is favour enough. And as for this world, 
6 it is but a bubble: I would not change my con- 
J dition for any of yours, (meaning those then by 



PIETY PROMOTED, 41 r 

lief bed-side) although I might have my health ; 
( for" I can never be better satisfied to die, than now 

* I am ;' with abundance more heavenly expressions, 
which she delivered one day after another : (which 
were not noted) she farther said, * What have I 
< done that the Lord should be so good to me ? 

* many hate been great sufferers j but I have done 

* nothing •, $0 that if I have but the least place in 

* the kingdom, I shall be satisfied, although it be 

* hut a door-keeper.' 

She died the 24th of the Twelfth month, 1703, 
at Ridge, and was buried in friends' burying-ground 
in Henley-upon-Thames, the 28th of the Twelfth 
month, 1703. 



]\/TARY STUBS, daughter of Thomas Stubs, 
-^ A belonging to Pardshaw meeting in Cumberland, 
came of believing parents, by whom she was educated 
in the way of truth, and reached thereby in her 
young years, walking circumspectly, as becomes 
the truth, and received a public testimony seven 
years before her death, and visited friends in Nor- 
thumberland, some part of Bishoprick, Yorkshire, 
and Lancashire, and friends generally in the nation 
of Ireland, and was well received. And when 
visited with sickness, was well borne up in her 
spirit ; and when her mother seemed to be troubled 
and sorry to part with her, she desired her to be 
content, for it was her great joy, and farther said, 
* I see nothing that I have to do but die;' and 
also said, ' I am fully clear,' and so departed very 
sensibly the nth of the Twelfth month, 1704, in 
the Thirty-third year of her age, and was buried 
in friends 1 burying-place at Eaglesfieid. 



Sz 



4il PIETY PROMOTED. 

A MBROSE RIGGE, late of Ryegate, in Sum, 
•^*- was born at Ban ton, in Westmoreland, and 

convinced of the truth about the year 1652. And 
I : called of God to preach the gospel of peace 
and salvation, was drawn to visit London, and the 
s null and west parts of England, about the year 
1055, enduring great hardships, being often im- 
ped in divers goals, not for evil-doing, but 
';ing the truth, and for his refusing to swear, 
in obedience to Christ, who commanded, " Swear 
" not at all," was premunired, and made prisoner 
rsham, in Sussex, above ten years at one time; 
hipped, and often evilly intreated 
•and abused, which lie bore with much patience., 
and continued faithful unto death. And in the 
time of his sickness, wherein he died, he had great 
ranee of the mercy and favour of God, and 
sulci, ' 1 ::\n going where the weary are at rest:' 
and he bore Ids sickness with much patience ; and 
a little before his departure, lie declared, saying, 
1 If friends keep to the root of life in themselves, 
■ they would be the happiest people in the world.' 

lie departed this life the 30th of the Eleventh 
month, 1704, and was buried the 4th of the Twelfth 
month in friends' burying ground at Ryegate, in 
Surry. Aged above Seventy, and a minister about 
forty-nine years. 



/^EORGE FOOKS, late of Gray's-Inn-lane, in the 
^^ parish of Andrew's, Holborn, in the county 
of Middlesex, shoemaker, was born at Boston, in 
Cambridgeshire, in the year 1649, and religiously 
inclined from his youth. He was convinced of the 
blessed truth, as professed by the people called 
Quakers (with whom he joined in society; about 
the age of one and twenty ; and by believing in 
Christ the true light, he came to receive power to 



PIETY PROMOTED. 413 

-Walk inoffensively ; and though he could not then 
read, he afterwards learned to read the holy scrip- 
tures, and greatly delighted therein. And when he 
came to have a family, was careful to have them 
frequently read therein ; and would direct those of 
his family to that holy spirit in themselves, which 
the scripture testifies of, that thereby they might 
come to have an understanding of them, and find 
help in themselves to withstand evil, and to be 
preserved out of it : he cautioned them also against 
evil, and exhorted them to that which was good, 
and well-doing. 

He was a man of a tender heart, ard meek spirit, 
pitiful to the poor, and faithful to the Lord, who 
was pleased to give him a part in the ministry of 
the word of life, about the year 1691, and after he 
travelled some time in the work thereof, and was 
serviceable for several years,, whilst he enjoyed his 
health. 

In the year 1704 it pleased the Lord to visit him 
with sore affliction' of body ; which he bore with 
much patience, and in the time of his weakness had 
many visits from his friends and neighbours, being 
well beloved by them ; and when some came to 
visit him, and said, the Lord comfort you, he 
answered, l The Lord is with me, and is my com- 

* fort night and day, and hath made my bed easier 
' than I could think ; although the Lord hath been 

* pleased to afflict my body, yet he comforteth my 

* soul ; as he hath taken away the strength of my 

* limbs, he hath preserved my senses to praise him.' 

Before he died he called his son, and bid him 
read the £th, 6th and 7th chapters of Matthew, and 
then observed to him the blessings mentioned therein, 
and said to him, * Thou hast a privilege beyond 
< many poor children, I would not have thee slight 

* it; but read them often, and desire the Lord to. 
6 open thv understanding in what thou readest ; 

s 3 



' 4 i4 PIETY PROMOTED, 

< for it is for our help ; and as thou dost so, I do 
4 believe the Lord will help thee, as he did me; — 

* my concern is for thy soul's good, which is of 
1 greater value than thy body.' Then he added, 

* The Lord hath blessed my honest, endeavours and 

* labours hitherto •, so that thou hast been fed and 

* clothed with the rest of my children and family, 

: I have something to spare : but the greatest 

* blessing the Lord hath blessed me with, is the 
' knowledge of his truth, which thou hast often 

* heard me say, that whatever the Lord should be 
1 pleased to bereave me of, that he would be pleased 
1 to keep me in the sense of this blessing ; and at 

* this time I have a living sense thereof, with earnest 

* desires to the Lord it may be so with thee : my 
1 dear child, I am going out of this world, and 

* must leave thee, and thou wilt lose a tender 
1 father ; but as thou dost mind the Lord, and 
' think upon him, he will be a father to thee, as he 

* was to me : and be sure thou be kind and loving 

* to thy mother, and be ruled by her when I am 

* gone, and remember what I have said unto thee, 

keep the commandments of the Lord, in thy 

* life-time, and it will be well with thee hereafter, 

* and then thou wilt not be afraid to die : — for thy 

: I could have been willing to have stayed 

* longer here, but it must not be, and I am willing 

* to submit to the will of the Lord; for it is well, 

* it is well, or I would not have told thee so ; I am 
'• not afraid to die. — Once more I bid thee remember 
c thy father's dying words.' He said also to his son, 
' I never kept back the wages of any man, that did 
4 any thing for me, nor ever over-reached any 

* man in dealing, nor ever wronged any man one 
' penny.' 

Then desiring to see his daughter, she came. 
He said unto her, ' My child, thou wast my first- " 

* born 3 and the child of my love s but thou hast 



PIETY PROMOTED. 415 

* grieved me to the heart, and grieved the Lord, 

* and many friends that wished thee well. I am 

* now going out of this world, and when my 
' trouble endeth, thine may begin. — I do forgive 

* thee, and desire the Lord to pass by and forgive 
' t^ee -, and I do forgive thee, and I hope and believe 

* he will ; but thou must be very diligent in seeking 

* and crying to him : thou art now a mother of 
c children •, be sure to be a good example unto 

* them, teach them to read the scriptures, and do 

* thou so too j quit thyself to thy husband as a 
' woman fearing God should : be loving to thy 

* mother, and she will be loving to thee and thine 
' I know : I have seen thy condition, and considered 

* it, the Lord bless thee, is my earnest desire ; think 

* upon my dying words, when I am gone, they may 

* do thee good. I have been a tender father to 

* "thee : so hereafter thou mayest say. Oh ! wife, 
'how hath been, and is my soul ravished with joy. 

* I cannot express the joy my soul hath been in this 

* night : oh ! wife, it is well ; do not be troubled 

* for me, for it is well ; and as we keep close to the 

* Lord it will be well.' 

This is the account which he gave in the time of 
his sickness ; though he sometimes met with ex- 
ercises, the Lord was with him, and stood by him, 
for he was an honest man, and so lived and died, 
and no doubt is at rest in the paradise of God. 

He died the 27th of the Eighth month, 1704, 
aged about Fifty-rive, convinced about thirty-four, 
and a minister about thirteen years •, and was de- 
cently and honourably buried, being accompanied 
by his relations, and many friends, to their burying- 
place near Bunhill-fields. 



S4 



•i6 PIETY PROMOTED. 



A : 



NXE TRUSS was bcm at Reading, where she 
received the truth, and suffered imprisonment 
for her testimony to it; she was well estemed oi\ 
being a woman that loved truth, and was zealously 
up to promote its honour, and encouraged 
faithfulness, among the professors of it, both by 
exhortation and example, and was often concerned 
jn public to speak of the goodness of God, in Christ 
, to mankind, from a sense and taste thereof, 
essed to diligence in the worship of God, and 
holiness of life : and power attended her 

.; desir \\ her last sickness might 
not be long ; and it was indeed but about four days, 
and in that time she counselled her friends, neigh- 
bours, and hildrerij that came to see her, 
and were . to prize their precious time, 
und to keep out of every thing that would offend 
the Lord, and said, * My peace is made with the 
' Lord."' And prayed with much sweetness for her 
grand-children, and that the Lord would destroy all 
that in his people which was contrary to himself. 
A few hours before she departed, said, ' I now hope 
' I shall be at rest.' 

She died the 17th of the First month, 1704. 
Aged Seventy-six years. 



TTUMPIIREY WOOLBRIDGE was convinced 
-*--*• of truth early, and received a public tes- 
timony for it ; he travelled pretty much about 
England in the service of truth, and wrote several 
books. About the year 1705, being at London, 
was taken ill, and continued so some time at friends' 
work-house near Clerkenwell, being troubled with a 
great swelling in his face and mouth, which much 
deprived him of his speech ; but he writ several 
times to friends, that the Lord was good to him, 



PIETY PROMOTED. 417 

and desired friends to pray for him, saying, ' I see 
i a farther weight of glory, into which I am not 
'entered.' — i\ncther time, * My love in the Lord 

* is to you-; my present thought is, to die is my gain, 
' without doubt, because of the love and mercy of 

* God, that casteth out fear, is shed in my heart, 
c to whom I bow my knee, and bless his holy name, 
c his gracious name.' 

And in the Fifth month, a little before his death, 
he writ to p ome friends in London thus : c The Lord 
' is niy rock, and my salvation, and tower, in the 
£ time of my distress and anguish •, I cried to the 
-* Lord when the billows went over my head, and 
' the proud waves did afflict my soul \ then was my 
' faith in God, and underneath was the everlasting 
'arm, my salvation. So that with David I could 
1 say, " The Lord sitteth upon the floods, he reign- 
" eth as king for ever and ever." 

He died the 31st of the Fifth month, 1707. 
Aged about Seventy-four years. 



"WILLIAM HARRIS, of Radford-seemly, in 
* ' the county of Warwick, was one that received 
truth in the love of it, in his youthful days, and 
being faithful, a part of the gospel ministry was 
given to him 5 in which he laboured with zeal and 
fervency of spirit, and was very serviceable in 
doctrine and discipline, serving truth and friends 
in singleness of heart ; seeking much the prosperity 
of truth, and the love and unity of friends in it; 
lie was fervent and frequent in admonition and 
exhortation to all people where his lot was cast; 
always having a regard to the fear of the Lord unto 
the last, and very honourable for his innocent life, 
and upright conversation, wherein he walked, as a 
true pattern of virtue ; ruling well his own house, 

. S5 



4.i8 PIETY PROMOTED. 

and keeping his family in good order, wherein he 
exemplary, often calling upon them to love 

and fear the Lord, and to wait together upon the 
Lord in his own family. And with much diligence, 
and due order to frequent their public meetings, 
wherein hit love and faithfulness was manifest to 
the last. 

! 1 • was taken ill in a meeting which Joseph 

li.nl appointed in the public meeting-house 

. * Harbury, on the l8th oi the Seventh month, 

the meeting, and after, he was well 

d in the will of the Lord being done, for he 

..ill to die. Ami after, being something 

' home, and grew weaker: but the Lord 

i the 23d ot the Seventh month, 

ing , to go to the meeting of friends 

d publicly declared the word of truth 

with much fervency, both to friends and others ; 

ing hastened home, and grew weakeV 

and weaker in body. On the 3d of the Eighth 

month, a friend went to visit him, to whom he said, 

the night before had been very comfortable to him, 

for the \a rd gave him sweet repose ; so that he felt 

no pain. And the Lord was so in his love to him, 

that he shewed him, that the walls of salvation was 

about him, and that lie would give him an entrance 

into everlasting life. 

On the 6th of the same month he was taken so 
ill, that it was thought he would have scarce lived 
till morning. And when a friend came to see him 
next morning, lie was a little revived, and spoke 
comfortably to him and those present. And the 
next day the friend came' again to see him, and 
when he came into the chamber, he put forth his 
hand, and took him by the hand, saying, * Thou 

* art come to see me this once more ; I am now a 

* dying man, I wait to be dissolved, I am weary of 
this frail body ; when the Lord pleaseth, I would 



PIETY PROMOTED. 419 

' be freed from it/ And several friends coming to 
see him, he spake very sensibly to them \ and when, 
they took their leave, he exhorted them to fear the 
Lord, and be faithful in the truth. A friend that 
was related to him, taking his leave of him, seemed 
to be troubled, he said, * Make no ado, neither be 
c troubled, it is the Lord's doing.' He exhorted his 
elder servant to fear the Lord, and charged her to ex-. 
hort her fellow-servant to fear him also, saying, with- 
out it the heart will not be kept clean. A friend said 
to him, c Thou hast been a comfort to many, I hope 

* the Lord will remember thee in his mercy, and be 

* a comfort to thee in this thy affliction : ' he 
answered, c The Lord is good to my soul, I can 
( say, I have fought the good fight of faith, I am 
1 now finishing my course, the Lord will give me a 

* crown of life/ — A little before he departed he 
signified" his great love to all friends in general, and 
said, ' My love is to all my friends and old ac- 

* quaintance/ A friend observing his exercise, said, 
' Thou hast hard labour/ he said, f The Lord will 
( visit me in his mercy, and give me an easy passage 
c in his own time out of this body/ And so he 
had, and he entered into stillness, lay the space of 
an hour, and quietly and peaceably departed, as a 
lamb going into hla rest, about the 12th hour at 
night, the 7th of the Eighth month, 1705, Aged 
about Seventy years. 



/GILBERT LATEY, an ancient professor of the' 
^ holy truth, was born in the- parish of Issey*. in 
the county of Cornwall, in the year 1626,. and 
came to London in the year 1648. He was of a 
sober conversation, and religiously inclined,, and' 
followed those that were esteemed the most religious 
preachers at that time.- And about the year 1654 
was by the spirit of Christ, and the powerful preach* 



A zo PIETY PROMOTED. 

Jng of that eminent servant of the Lord Edward 
ows, convinced of the blessed truth, as it is 
3ed by the people called Quakers, at a meeting 
held at the house of Sarah Matthews, in White- 
cross-strect, London, in the year 1654. And in 
the year 1659 was concerned to bear a public 
testimony for truth, and against superfluity : and 
being by trade a taylor, would not meddle with, nor 
• uffer Ins servants to put on, upon apparel (to set it 
on) any superfluities, as lace and ribbons. 

lie also cerned to solicit, with other 

friends, the several powers in Ins time for suffering 

I used to -say friends should keep to truth, 

or the anointing in their solicitations, and then 

they may expect a blessing, and be made serviceable. 

And in the year 1 ~c 5, the Seventy-fourth year of 
his age, being weak, he said he had done the work 
of Iris day faithfully, and was sate down in the will 
of («ed, and there was no cloud in his way. And 
the night before he departed, he gave counsel to 
them that were in the room, to fear the Lord, and 
not to do evil for evil ; but to do good for evil : for 
there is (said he) no overcoming of evil, but in and 
by that which is good. Exhorting much to love 
and tenderness, saying the Lord would bless such 
that were found therein. A few hours before his 
departure, he said that there was no condemnation 
to them that were in Christ Jesus, for, said he 
* He is the lifter up of my head, he is my strength, 
4 and great salvation. 1 

He departed this life the 15th of the Ninth 
month, 1705, and was buried in friends' burying- 
ground at Kingston-upon-Thames. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 421 

IIHLLIAM STOVEY, late of Kelperston-Marsh, 
T ' near Trowbridge, in the county of Wilts,, 
was born at Aberry in the said county. He re- 
ceived truth (as it is professed by the people called 
Quakers) upon its first publication in those parts, 
and was a very zealous encourager of faithfulness 
among friends. He also received a gift of the 
ministry, and was often very much concerned in his 
travels, that truth's testimony might be kept up m 
its several branches, and particularly against the 
antichristian oppression of tythes, &c. for bearing 
which testimony, as well as keeping up of meetings, 
he was a great sufferer, being cast into several 
prisons, and had his cattle, and other goods, several 
times taken from him, even to the bed he lay on, 
and almost ail that was thought worth removing. 
His last sickness was not very great in appearance, 
nor long ; yet he signified he should never go forth 
of his chamber, and said, * I can and do forgive all 
s my enemies.' He was very cheerful in the time 
of his illness, and more than ordinary glad of 
friends company that came to see him, and said he 
was satisfied and willing, when the Lord pleased, 
to leave this world, in expectation of a far greater 
happiness in that which is to come. 

So he departed this life the 7th of the Eleventh 
month, 1705, and was buried at Cummerell, in 
the said county. 



TpLIZABETH DICKINSON, widow, was con- 
-*^ vinced in her husband's life-time ', though her 
husband was concerned thereat, and she met with 
great exercise •, yet was made willing to give up, 
to answer the requirings of truth, and in a little 
time, through the grace of God bestowed upon her, 
being faithful unto the Lord, she was made a 



ill PIETY PROMOTED. 

publisher of the everlasting gospel of Christ Jesus 
well nigh the first; in Abby-holme meeting: and 
the Lord added to her days, and the number of the 
church ; that she lived not only to see many gathered 
to the Lord in her time, but many also raised to 
bear a public testimony for him, to the gladding of 
her heart, in the thirty years she lived after she had 
received the truth. She was of a blameless life and 
conversation) living answerable to the doctrine of 
Christ : she loved the unity of good people, and 
hated that which was the cause of tire breach 
thereof: ^he was never tedious in her testimony, 
she was a mother in Israel, a terror to evil doers,. 
and bore a faithful testimony against the workers of 
iniquity : she ruled well her own house - y so that her 
advice and counsel took place with others : she was 
endued by the Lord with meekness and wisdom, 
and was freely given up to serve the truth with 
what she had, and the Lord blessed her. She 
! friends in Northumberland, Bishoprick, West- 
moreland, Yorkshire, and Lancashire, where she 
had good service for the Lord. Ami in the year 
1688 she visited friends in Scotland, and had also 
good service, the Lord accompanying her with his 
heavenly power and presence. 

In the time of her sickness, though very sharp, 
the Lord preserved her in patience, and she desired 
friends to remember her in their near approaches to 
the Lord, and said, c Lord I am willing to die*, 

* thou that hast made me willing, art able to make 
' me ready : look down upon thy afflicted handmaid, 
f and lay no more upon me, than I am able to bear.' 
And often desired the Lord to be near. Her last 
words that can be remembered before she departed, 
were, ' Thou, Lord God of Israel, be near and 

* fasten my spirit;' which it is not doubted but he 
was pleased to do, and received her into rest with 
the righteous, where no disturbance can come ; but 



PIETY PROMOTED. 423 

praises everlasting, are sung to the Lord God and 
the lamb for evermore. 

She departed this life the Eighth of the Eleventh 
month, 1705, in the Sixty-sixth year of her age, 
and was buried at friends' burying-place at Allonby, 
upon the sea-coast in Cumberland, being accompanied 
with many friends and relations. 



C ARAH BLACKHOUSE, of Yoelaiid-Redman, 
v ~* in the county of Lancaster, was convinced of 
the truth, by receiving the testimony of that eminent 
messenger and minister of the gospel of Christ 
George Fox, in the year 1653, being in and about 
the Twenty-seventh year of her age. And within a 
few years after, it pleased the Lord to concern her 
in a public testimony, to the refreshing and edifying 
of his churches and people, in which she faithfully 
laboured and travelled in the meetings where unto- 
she belonged, and some other adjacent meetings r 
she was exemplary in her life and conversation, and 
preached truth therein to her neighbours, and those 
she was concerned with. And a few days before 
she died, her friends and relations being by her 
bed-side, she said, * See that in all your meetings 

* you wait upon the Lord, and be not sleepy ; be 

* faithful unto what he hath made known, and 
6 revealed unto you : for it need not be said unto you 
' know the Lord \ you know enough, be faithful to 
f what the Lord hath revealed, for that is the sum 
i of all religion.' A little after said, ' I am weak,, 
4 and in much pain, I desire to be eased, when the 
c Lord's pleasure is ; through mercy he hath given 
6 me peace and rest to my soul/ And then said, 
'Farewell, fare you all well in the Lord, I desire 
' your growth and prosperity in the truth, every cne 
f for yourselves.' And so in much peace and 
quietness of mind and spirit, departed this life; 



4-n PIETY PROMOTED. 

the 30th of the Fifth month, 1706, being near 
Eighty years of age; had a testimony for truth 
about fifty years. 



TORN TOMKINS, who collected the three 
•' volumes of Dying Sayings-, (formerly printed) 
intituled, Piety Prom born about the year 

1663, and his honest parents were in society with 
the people called ' 

His father died when he was very young, after 
which his mother took care ro have him religiously 
educated, and the Lord blessed her care, and was 
graci< , : vears to incline him 

to love and fear him: <>.i]C\ he was an obedient son, 
and assisting to fcer in her business ; and as he grew 
Qiinued so. 

And when Ids mother marri d again, che had 
several more children by her second husband. And 
after she died, and her 1 duced to a 

verj low condition, this ins son-in-law was both 
tem'cr and ch ritabie, ami had a great care and 
1, J s his love and tender 

compassion l>- tnifested to his 

relations, so di • greatly appear to those 

that preached the gospel of C it, and to the poor 
and afflicted in body and mind, whom he fell I, 
visited, and comforted. He also greatly loved and 
delighted in the holy scriptures, and diligently read 
and searched them.. And as he grew in years, he 
grew in grace, ami in the knowledge of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ. And being faithful unto 
the Lord, he was pleased to put him into the 
ministry, and committed to him the word of recon- 
ciliation, and made him a skilful minister for his 
time, in the word of life; so that he could divide 
it aright. He was filled with such a holy zeal 
/or the name and truth of God, as was accompanied 



PIETY PROMOTED. 4^5 

with- knowledge, and was well acquainted with our 
Christian discipline, and careful that it might be 
maintained, greatly desiring where any professing 
truth walked not according to it, that they might 
be admonished and reproved ; and that the works 
and ways of those that would not receive either-, 
but continued loose and unfaithful, should be tes- 
tified against, that friends might be clear, and the 
church and Sion of God might shine ; for he greatly 
delighted in her prosperity, and travelled for her 
welfare, and prayed that the Lord would favour her 
dust, and satisfy her poor with bread, and comfort 
all her mourners. — One asking him how he did, 
he replied,. l Very weak, but 1 am willing to die^ 
' and leave this troublesome world, if the Lord sees 
c it meet to remove me at this time.' And lying on 
his bed very weak, he declared to friends then 
present, very fervently for some time, concerning 
the work of the Lord, and the prosperity of his 
truth in the earth ; and in particular, that the Lord 
would have a glorious church and people, when all 
the dross and eharT, that did yet cleave to them, 
should be purged out, and blown away ;. and that 
the Lord would remove that which had been the 
occasion of any dis-union among his people, and 
bring them more and more into unity, and to be of 
one heart and mind, and that the work of the Lord 
should go forward in the earth, and his truth prosper 
over all the kingdoms of it, and many nations 
should be gathered to it. He also said, ' I believe 
9 the Lord will blass his people, and carry on the 
/'work he hath begun in the earth: and it is my 
J faith, that the time will come that the wicked 
c shall be as few 3s the righteous are now; but 
' there is much to be purged out of the church 5 
c there is much pride and superfluity to be done 
' away.' Again said, c I have seen great things 
( since my sickness 5 things which I think not 



426 PIETY PROMOTED. 

■ lawful to be spoken.' Much good counsel and 
advice droped from him, at sundry times, that was 
not taken down in writing, which he gave at times 
to his friends and relations about him, and often 
said to his wife, * My dear, grieve not, thou must 
1 not grieve ; I want to be where the weary arc at 
4 rest, and where the wicked cease from troubling. 
4 I want to be dissolved, that I mav be with the Lord 

* Jesus Christ; the Lord will provide for thee and thy 

* children : he hath said, fl Let their widows trust in 
w me, and I will take care of their fatherless children/' 

When he was asked if lie desired to see his 
youngest child, (he being some miles distant) lie 
answered, ' He is young, and hath little knowledge 

* of me, I commit him to the great God, he will 
1 take care of him J lie spake this with more than 
ordinary sedateness, adding, * I am not afraid of 
1 death, I have sought the honour of God in my 

* day, and my reward is with him. The Lord hath 

* been very good to me in this sickness, I can say 
« with the Psalmist, he hath made my bed in my 
' sickness. I have many sweet seasons from the 
f Lord in the night when I cannot sleep ; oh ! 
' I enjoy sweet peace from him. Oh ! the love of 
c the Lord Jesus Christ is great to mankind. 

'The Lord visited me. in my tender years, and 
€ I have feared him from my childhood. I have 
1 delighted to wipe the shoes of those that preach 
4 the gospel, when I was a boy, and since I have 
1 been a man, I have taken more delight in serving 

* the Lord, his church and people, than in getting 
1 of worldly riches. I love the poor, and have 
'"loved to serve them, and to visit them in their 
' afflictions. Remember my love to the poor in the 
' quarter where I dwell. 

* I love the ministry, I have a valuable esteem for 
{ the ministers, and pray God purge and sanctify 
c diem, that they may go before the flack. And 



PIETY PROMOTED. 427 

c I pray God bless the young generation of ministers 
$ that are coming up, and make them skilful in the; 
fr work, that thev may divide the word aright, that- 

* like the Benjamites of old, they may. shoot an 

* arrow [or sling a stone j to an hair's breadth/ 

He died the 12th of the Seventh month, 1706%. 
aged about Forty-three years ; and was decentlyy 
buried from the meeting-house near Devonshire- 
square,, accompanied by a great number of- friends- 
to Bunhill burying-ground, and many living tes- 
timonies were borne to the truth, in which he lived 
and died. 

He collected and wrote the several books fol- 
lowing : 

The Harmony of the Old and New Testament.- 

A Concordance. 

A Trumpet Sounded. 

The Great Duty of Prayer. 

Piety Promoted, first, second and third parts. 
Which are proofs of his zeal for truth, his love - 
to all people, and that he was well acquainted- 
with the holy scriptures. 



T> OBERT HUBERSTIE, late of Yelhud-Compers, .. 
■*-*■' in the county of Lancaster, was visited with 
the day-spring from on high, and brought to the 
knowledge of God's eternal truth, as professed by 
the people called Quakers, about the year 1653, 
which he received, loved, and obeyed ; and was 
often a great sufferer by imprisonment (for his 
faithful testimony to the truth) and spoiling of his 
goods, for peaceably meeting only to worship Al- 
mighty God, in the spirit of his Son,, and according 
as he requires, and bearing his testimony faithfully 
against that cruel and antichristian oppression of 
tithes. And after his release out of prison he 



428 PIETY PROMOTED; 

travelled in the work of the ministry, the Lor.f 
having bestowed a good gift upon him, and com* 
mitted to him the word of reconciliation ; he travelled 
in the power of it for the good of souls, and \ 

part of this 

nation, exhorting and advising friends in the love of 

■ life-giving presence and power of 

Lord in all their meetingSi that therein they 

hed and strengthened to wait upon 

ip him in his eternal spirit and 

truth. And hem.;- returned, lie was taken 

and in the he had many comfortable 

th God) th 

■ will 
■ to live or die, 

* my own interest in i vised 

I eat to be faithful to what God had 
manifested to th - imony 

to the truth. A pain, he said, 

' It is good to have the Lord Lch a pinching 

* time as this, and to have nothi but to die/ 
And a few days before he diet' I ' his son, 
and the rest of his family, and said he must take 
his leave of them ; and desired them to live in love 
and peace one with another, and to love the truth 
above all, ami to bear a faithful testimony for God 
and his truth whilst on earth, and the Lord would 
bless them. And desired that his love might be 
remembered unto faithful friends, of whom some 
he mentioned by name. 

He bore his sickness and pain with much patience, 
and uttered many sweet expressions, which were not 
taken. He was preserved sensible to the last, having 
been a believer in the truth about Fifty-three years, 
a prisoner near Five years. Aged about Seventy-oire 
years. 

He died the 12th, and was buried the 14th of the 
Eighth month, 1706. 



FIETF PROMOTED. 4^9 

TIere followeth a Testimony of an ancient friend and 
acquaintance of R. Huberstie's. 

c -Since I have had the opportunity of reading the 
above-written lines, relating to my dear deceased 
friend and brother in the nearest and dearest re- 
iation of God's blessed truth, who was convinced 
thereof in the next year after! was, when we were 
both young in years; and remembering the glory 
of that day of visitation of our souls, and the com- 
fortable fellowship of the Spirit we have since en- 
joyed together. And also Providence so ordering, 
that my lot fell to see him in his bodily weakness, 
and to be comforted ; in the beholding that sweet 
contented frame of spirit he lay in ; together with 
the affecting words that then dropped from him, 
I felt some concern upon my mind to add in short, 
.as followeth : 

' That he was a man truly fearing God, faithful 
to the manifestation of truth, firm and noble in his 
testimony and sufferings : therefore of latter years, 
an able, zealous and iabourous minister of Christ 
Jesus, concerned for good order in the church ; 
serving the Lord faithfully in his day, and died the 
death of the righteous, his latter end was like theirs, 
•viz. full of joy in righteousness, and assurance of 
eternal life and glory, as he intimated to me in a 
divine sense thereof, a very few days before his 
departure, saying that he was well in mind, freely 
given up to the will of God, and possessed perfect 
peace, patiently waiting for his being delivered out 
of that pain and trouble of body in God's time, 
desiring to be remembered to all faithful friends, 
and desiring me, and one other friend, to be at his 
burial. And the Lord by Providence made way, 
that I therein answered his desire, it being the day 
above-said, in friends' burying-place at Yeland, 
* where a great appearance of friends were, and a 



430 PIETY PROMOTED. 

x great many of the chief and sober neighbours, yen, 
c several that wore not invited ; which did demon- 
c strate the good respect he had amongst all sorts of 
' people. And the Lord was pleased upon that 
1 solemn occasion, to bless us with his glorious 
4 presence] and to open the mouths of several of his 
* servants in a living testimony to his truth ; and also 
1 to magnify his holy and powerful name for his 
4 marvellous salvation, revealed in and through the 
1 J. ord Jesus Christ our Saviour, to whom, with the 
; t, belongs dominion, glory, and eternal praise. 
■ world without end, amen. 

* Thomas Cam/ 
Oldwortb, 26th <>f First Month, 1707. 



JOHN CARLILE, of the city of Carlisle, in the 
*" county of Cumberland, was born at Black-well, 
three miles from the city of Carlisle, by trade a tan- 
ner, was, through the gracious visitation of God, 
convinced oi the blessed truth about the year 167?, 
and by the ministry of John Graves, much reached 
and confirmed by virtue of the power of truth : and 
he grew and increased in faithfulness, according to 
his measure ; and was drawn forth sometimes in a 
public testimony, and preached the gospel, not in the 
eloquence of speech, but very powerful and reaching, 
and in simplicity and sincerity ; although illiterate as 
to outward learning, yet in his doctrine and testi- 
mony considerably opened the scriptures of truth, 
by the assistance of that holy Spirit that gave them 
forth, to the edification of the hearers, and con- 
firmation of those gospel truths by him preached. 
He laboured in the work of the ministry in divers 
counties, as Cumberland., Westmoreland, Bishoprick, 
and part of Lancashire .; as also in Northumberland, 
and iii Scotland 5 and several were convinced by his 



PJETY PROMOTED. 431 

labours of love in the gospel of Christ in many 
places, and remain as seals of his ministry. He was 
open-hearted, and zealous for the testimony of truth, 
and in much love received .the friends of it, that 
travelled in the same work, into his house. And as 
he delighted to draw near to the well-spring of life, 
for divine succour and consolation, he was not un- 
mindful often to wait upon the Lord in his family, 
unto whom the Lord was pleased to reach, in order 
to ..their -CQn-vincement,A>y his blessed truth ; and was 
sometimes opened to speak a few words unto them 
of information or exhortation-; and sometimes to 
supplicate the Lord.; and other times in silence, to 
wait upon the Lord in his family, to feel an increase 
and growth in the virtue of truth among them. And 
many are witnesses of the benefit and comfort they 
received in those his family meetings, that have been 
at them : so that although at his first convincement 
in the city, and when he came to bear testimony to 
the truth, he was as a speckled bird among the birds 
of the wood, there being none that bore the same 
profession in the said city, and was warred against 
by the bitter magistrates, and severe informers,, and 
cruel prosecutors : yet such was the Lord's goodness 
to him, that he was preserved faithful in his testi- 
mony for the Lord through all ; though some of his 
persecutors fell into great distress, and died mise- 
rably ; and others of them fell into great poverty: 
so that a prison became their dwellings, and therein 
they died. He was always Teady to help the forward 
and encourage every good work on truth's account, 
and was much given to hospitality, and open-hearted 
to the poor of any society. He was of a blameless 
conversation, just in his dealings, and of a good 
report among all people, and valiant for truth and 
its testimony unto the end. And in his sickness 
often exhorted friends to be faithful to the Lord and 
his truth, according to their measure ; saying, then 



432 PIETY PROMOTED. 

the Lord would stand by them, and bring them 
through all the exercises they might meet with for 
the same, and they should have the reward of well 
done ; with more expressions of the like nature. 
And haying some sight oi the glory and joys of 
n, that those that are faithful and upright- 
heatted shall enjoy, and that evidence in himself, 
of his soul's everlasting peace, he signified his desire 
of .'. change, and that his wife and children might 
give him freely up, saying it would be well •, and 
being sensible the rime or his departure drew near, 
said to his friends and neighbouri present, that a 
little time would finish and make all things easy. 
And in about halt" an hour passed away, being the 
25th of the Twelfth month, 17065 and died in the 
faith of Jesus, and in full unity with friends, having 
borne an h itimony for truth in his genera- 

tion, and 1 . avpiir behind him. Aged about 

Seventy-four years. 



TOHX ELLIS was one that the Lord bestowed a 
** gift in the ministry upon, that laboured in the 
gospel of the grace of God for the good of souls, 
and freely preached it in the authority of divine life, 
to the reaching God's witness in many hearts. 

He was zealous for God, and tender of the good 
in all ; but terrible against the workers of iniquity. 
Grave and reverend in the exercise of his gift, his 
testimony full of reproof and caution j but in that 
meekness which made the same to be edifying. 
His doctrine sound, flowing from the living fountain 
and divine spring of life and heavenly wisdom. 

He Was a man of great kindness, loving, meek, 
and humble ; a visitor of the widows and fatherless 
in their distress, he sympathized with ihem ; he fed 
the hungry, cloathed the naked,, according to his 
ability, and laboured greatly in Dorsetshire, Hamp- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 433 

shire, Wiltshire, and Devonshire, and other places ; 
often saying, his Father's business must not be neg- 
lected, or done negligently. And as he was travel- 
ling in the service of truth, he was taken sick ten 
miles from his habitation. He exhorted that every 
one should keep close to the truth, that the Lord had 
made known to them, and said on his death-bed to 
his wife, ' It is hid from me,' speaking of his death, 
c but if this is my time, I am ready ; there is nothing 

* to be laid to my charge; there is a fountain of life 

* that we must all come to, that runs sweetly. 7 His' 
daughter standing by, he gave her a charge, that she 
should not mix with any in the world, and that she 
should not be troubled; c for/ 'said he, ' I have a 

* sure foundation.' And many other sweet expres- 
sions, that could not be distinctly understood ; but 
he concluded, saying, l I salute you all ;' and de- 
parted the 31st of the First month, 1707, and was 
decently interred in friends' burying-ground at Pool-, 
the 4th of the Second month following, and several 
testimonies were then borne unto the truth on that 
occasion. 



[ARY STOUT, relict of Henry Stout, of Hart- 
ford, an honest ancient friend that was early 
convinced of the blessed truth, and retained her love 
unto it, and the friends of it unto death. Being 
weak and near her end, said on her death-bed the 
31st of the First month, 1707, ' I have nothing to 
' do but to die, if it should be this night before 
1 morning. — I have received the earnest of that in- 
€ heritance that shall never fade away/ R. T. next 
day coming to see her, asked how she did, she said, 
c I am very weak, but very well satisfied to die, if 
* my time be come ; for the Lord is with me, and 
' that is a precious jewel \ R. T. said, ' So it is, 
' which the world -cannot give -,' she said, ' No, nor 
Vol. L T 



434 PIETY PROMOTED. 

€ take away.' R. T. asked her if she had settled her 
affairs, she replied she had nothing to do but to die. 

The 6th of the Second month several friends being 
come to visit her, she said, * I take your visit very 

* kindly, that I might see you before I die : I never 

* was thus weak before in my life, yet I have nothing 
4 laid to my charge. — The Lord hath been with me 
1 in my exercise.' Then said to G. W. ' And thou 

* hast been a clear friend to me/ 

And on the 7th of the Second month, about the 
eighth hour in the morning, G. AV. went to her, (she 
then appearing near death; saying to her, ' The Lord 

* make thy passage easy, and give thee rest.' And 
near the ninth hour the same morning, she quietly 
departed without sigh or groan. Aged about Eighty 
years, and had for some years, at certain times, used 
to speak a few weighty and seasonable words in 
friends meetings. 



ITERANCES RZJTT, of Hartford, an ancient, true, 

*■ and serviceable woman, unto whom the Lord had 
given a public testimony to bear for the truth, which 
she had known and professed for many years, and 
lived therein, who was exemplary in her conversa- 
tion, and a lover of her friends and all people. — • 
When near her end, and friends stood about her, she 
said to them, ' You must not depend upon words, 
' but upon the pure spring of life in your own hearts, 
c and upon the word of the Lord that endureth for 
c ever.' 

Thus this faithful woman, that had preached the 
word, counselled friends to depend upon it, as that 
which is able to quicken and reconcile to God, sanc- 
tify and save the souls of all that are obedient thereto 
unto death, as no doubt she experienced it. 

She departed this life the 7th of the Third month, 
1707. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 435 

TOHN SAGER, of Marsden, in the county of 
^ Lancaster, was born the 3d of the Eighth month, 
1627 and convinced of the truth about the beginning 
of the year 1653, at a meeting at Brighouse, in 
Yorkshire, by our dear and ancient friend George 
Fox, of whom he always after retained an honourable 
esteem. 

The said John Sager was constant and zealous in 
bearing a faithful testimony for truth, and against 
tithes, often exhorting friends to faithfulness in their 
testimony against the same. And he often suffered 
the spoiling of his goods, even in those early days ; 
the first of which was in the year 1655. He also 
suffered five times imprisonment, and often under 
close confinement, by reason whereof his tender wife 
and family did go through great hardships. And when 
with his family was a constant attender of week-day 
meetings, and meetings for discipline, and very zea- 
lously concerned for the promotion thereof, being a 
man given up to do and suffer for the truth, of which 
he had received a measure (or talent) to improve, 
and was thereby enabled to bear all his great suffer- 
ings, and other trials, with much patience ; often 
saying, he was made willing by the power of God, 
to give up his life as a farther seal to the testimony 
he had borne, if the Lord did require it 5, and often 
blessed the Lord, that he had accounted him worthy 
to suffer for his name's sake ; desiring the Lord 
might forgive his adversaries, what they had done 
against him. And in his latter days, the nearer he 
drew to his change, (which he long waited for) he 
was the more raised up in living testimony in 
meetings, in exhortation to diligence and faithfulness 
in the gift received, and in praising the Lord for his 
mercies bestowed upon him and his people. And 
in his last -sickness, under the great weakness and 
distempers, which did then attend his aged body, 
he was always cheerful and content, praising the 
T 2 



436 PIETY PROMOTED. 

Lord for his merciful dealings with him. He was 
visited by many, both friends and others, and was 
often raised beyond expectation, to declare the truth, 
exhorting all to mind the light of Christ Jesus, 
wherewith they were enlightened ; often saying all 
was well with him, he had nothing to do but to die. 

The night before his departure, several friends 
comim-; to visit him, he .said, * I believe the time of 

* my departure is at hand, and I enjoy great peace 

* and comfort, and desire the Lord may preserve 
6 you, when you come to lie in the condition I do, 

* and that you may enjoy the same comfort I do 

* now enjoy ;'- — continuing in fervent prayer. And 
next mornings being very sensible unto the last, 
departed in in'eat peace and quietness, being the 
24th of the Fifth month, 1707. Aged Eighty-five 
pears apd Nine months; a minister of Christ. 

In the year 1660 he was imprisoned for not 
swearing, and remained a prisoner in Lancaster six 

In the year 1668 lie was imprisoned again for not 
swearing, and was a prisoner at Preston seven weeks. 

In the year 1669 he was imprisoned for non- 
payment of tithes at Lancaster four years and six 
weeks. 

In the year 1687 he was a prisoner on the same 
account at Lancaster one year. 

In the year 1691 he was a prisoner again, about 
tithes at Lancaster, four years and two months. 

So that in all he was prisoner near ten years,. 



PIETY PROMOTED; 437 

SAMUEL HUNT, of Nottingham, a minister of 
^ Christ, and a faithful servant in his church, that 
laboured and travelled for the good of souls ; at 
London Was taken ill about the Eighth month, -1707* 
at the house of Thomas Huttson, in George-yard, in 
JLombard-street, and being apprehensive of his death, 
said, * I have laboured faithfully in the service of 
( the Lord: I am -not afraid to die, for all will be 
'well with me.' And soon after he took his bed, 
he said, ' Dear Lord, thou knowest I love thee and 

* thy truth, and have never thought much to spend, 
-* and be spent for thee, and if my time be come 

* to leave this troublesome world, I -am -willing.' 

And he said unto Thomas Huttson and his wife, 
c Our first acquaintance together was in the love of 

* God, and in that let us live and abide, and in that 
f shall we part one from another.' 

About twelve hours before his departure, several 
friends were visiting him, and although he was very 
weak in body, and his distemper very sharp and 
strong upon him, yet he was raised in spirit, and 
filled with the love of Christ,- insomuch that he 
uttered many sweet expressions, and precious sayings, 
and such a stream of love and life attended him, 
that the hearts of all friends there present were 
melted.- He was heard to say something of the 
man-made ministers, but spoke so low it could not 
be farther Understood, until he was somewhat more 
strengthened, and his voice raised, then he spoke 
audibly, and said, * Away with this chaffy nature, 
4 it is fit for noching, but to be driven before the 

* wind; the sound of the instrument is but empty, 
c except the matter proceed from the pure spring of 

* immortal life :' — and then being silent, and retired 
in mind for some time, he broke forth, saying, 
c O sweet composure of mind! who is here? who 
4 is here ? the beloved of my soul, the chiefest of 

* ten thousands ! dear Lord, I will not let thee go ! 

T 3 



43S PIETY PROMOTED. 

* O thy love Is sweet and precious ! O that we may 

* live m thee, and dwell in thee, thou pure ccean 

* and divine fountain of eternal sweetness ! who can 
4 withhold praising thee, thou living God ! oh ! we 
1 will biess thy name, praises, honour, and glory, 
' be given to thee, through Jesus Christ, for ever 
4 and for evermore. ' 

And when friends were taking leave of him, he 
-said, * Dear friends, farewell ; all is well, all is 

* well*, and if we love one another, and love the 
1 Lord, and love his truth, all will be well.' And 
when he had taken leave of his wife, and several in 
the family, and M. II. coming in, and his wife 
acquainting him thereof, he said, being sensible to 
the last, * Farewell, dear Mary, farewell in Christ, 
' we have lived in love, and in love we part \ these 
were his last words : he departed not long after, 
being the 3d of the Ninth month, 1707. 

But before his departure, he dictated the following 
letter to his son. 

' Son Samuel, 
* First learn to live in the love and fear of God, 
c and if thou meets with any disappointment, thou 
4 mayest apply thyself to him the more freely for 

* assistance, it being thy fathers daily practice, in 

* what exercises he hath met with in this world ; 
4 and be truly honest, both towards God and man ' 9 
' always labouring in thy own mind to contradict 
1 any thing that may be otherwise. I recommend 
' this practice : privately to go into thy chamber 

* twice a day, to wait upon the Lord for counsel and 
4 instruction in all things. 

4 And it is thy father's desire, that thou mayest 

* be loving and dutiful unto thy mother, and loving 

* and kind to thy wife.* 

Aged Eorty-one years. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 439 

NICHOLAS GATES, late of Alton, in Hampshire, 
-*-^ clothier, son of. William Gates, of the same 
place, was from the time he understood there was 
a God that made the world, and all things therein, 
desirous to have the true knowledge of him ; and in 
his childhood took great delight in reading the holy 
scriptures, and in hearing the best reformed mi- 
nisters, and gave himself often to private praying to 
the Lord unknown, uttering words before him, until 
on a time in his chamber kneeling down by his 
bed-side, in order to utter words, he was stopped, 
anS it was said to him in his heart, as he declared 
and believed, by the Lord, * Thou needest not utter 
* words, for I know thy heart and soul's desire/ 
So remaining kneeling a while, he arose, but uttered 
no words. 

About the age of Twenty-one years, he came to 
join with those people in scorn called Quakers, 
and was rejected by his father, and became an, 
alien to his father's house, and many times threatened 
to be cast off, yet he loved his father dearly •> and 
the Lord was more to him than his father; the 
Lord fitted him for his service, and gave him a gift 
of the ministry,' and called him forth freely to 
preach the gospel of the grace of God, and made 
him an experimental witness of the sufficiency there- 
of, and therein he laboured earnestly in divers parts 
of England, to invite all to receive and come under 
its teachings. And by the power and grace of God, 
was supported under, and carried through all the 
trials and exercises, stonings, stockings, reproachings, 
imprisonments, and spoiling of goods he met with 
for the truth's sake, and his testimony thereto. 
He was religiously exemplary in his family, and 
among all where he travelled, preached sound doc- 
trine, lived a holy life, was just in his dealing, 
diligent in his calling, a tender husband, a loving 
father, a kind friend, a good neighbour, a follower 
T 4 



PIETY PROMOTED. 

ted in hospitality, sought unity, and 
it in the bond or peace. And 
t in attending meetings, both First-days, 
. and in the service of quarterly and 
nd in taking cure of the poor, 
■d. This servant of 
ren ill the 10th of the Tenth month, 
ntly seized) he 
church, and to have 
. unity, saying he was well 
deling with him : * He 
along, and hath 
i and been my support 
I is .so in tins present 
time lie said, * My days are 
but I have lived to see the 
. the Lord in the land of the living/ 
: is love to his wife in a very 
r, and prayed to the Lord 
ju!d bless and preserve her and his 
rig they might live together 
, nd watch i nother therein; and 

lid he did not know, that if he had his time to 
gain, that he could die better, having the 
evidence in himself of well done ; yet he said, if 
the Lord did see fit to restore him, and he could be 
an instrument to gain more souls to God, he could 
■\ ; for that was his great joy, when he con- 
sidered how he had spent his time in the Lord's 
service. And this honest, zealous old man gave 
good advice to many that came to see him, tmd for 
their children, laying a charge upon such friencis 
that had them, to keep their children to the plain 
language, and to bring them up in the fear and 
•admonition of the Lord ; and admonishing his own: 
children to do so by their children, and to ask them f 
questions for opening their understanding, that they 
might know what God is, and where he is to be 



PIETY PROMOTED. 441 

found, and do thus while they are young and 
tender; and said, ( Oh ! that men, especially young 

* men, did know the comfort of living a sober life.' 
A neighbour coming to visit him, asked him? how 
he did ; he replied, ' Weak, and am going a-pace 

* out of this troublesome world, to a place where 

* there is neither sorrow nor trouble •/ after this, he 
1 said, ? Friends were formerly known by their 
i fewness of words, and keeping to their words in 
' their dealings j ' so he very often desired friends to 
keep to plainness, both in habit and speech, warning 
his daughter Deborah present, and his wife, to 
watch over her children, to keep them out of pride, 
saying, c There is scarce a worse weed than pride :*, 
and a while before he died, said, ' IThe door of 
f entrance is open into tjie kingdom -, y into which it 
is not doubted but he is entered. He departed the 
2ist of the Tenth month, 1707, aged about Seventy- 
four, convinced about fifty-two years ; and was ho- 
nourably buried on the 24th in friends' burying- 
ground at Alton, after a very solemn meeting of 
many friends and others, and left his wife twenty- 
one children and grand-children. 



"1%/JTARY MOORE, late wife of John Moore, of 
•*- ■*■ Eldworth, in the county of York, daughter of 
Thomas Camm, was seized with sickness.^ which 
continued upon her about three months, which she- 
bore with much patience, often saying, she was well 
content with the will of God. ■ And her dear father 
being then from home in the service of truths her 
husband divers times asked her if he might not wrke 
to her father*, to acquaint him with her weakness, and 
to desire his return home \ she answered she should 
be right glad- to see him, but she would not have his 
service hindered upon her account, hoping when that 
T 5 



442 PIETY PROMOTED. 

Was over he might return in due time to see her : and 
accordingly, upon the 30th of the Sixth month, 1707, 
he got to Eld worth, and found his daughter very weak; 
but the surprize of joy to see him, had like to over- 
whelmed her spirits, that for a time she could not 
speak to him ; but in a little time got over it, and 
expressed her great joy and satisfaction to see him, 
saying, * Now the Lord hath answered my desire ; 
'and now I leave all to his wise disposing, whether 
1 lite or death.' So she continued pretty easy, still, 
and resigned ; and about a week after she grew 
worse •, but said to her father, ' I am resigned to the 
1 will of God, and gathered out of care, touching 
' visible things ; only some fear is upon my mind 
' touching my eldest son, that it would prove to his 
' harm to be schooled where he then was, therefore 

* desired he might be removed to some good place 
1 and school \ which was promised her should be 
done as speedily as well could be; at which she 
seemed content and easy. And often signified her 
resignedness to the will of God, praying to be en- 
dued with patience to the end of her race : and the 
Lord was pleased to hear and answer. And she bore 
all her long exercise with great patience. And on 
the 1 2th of the Seventh month, though much weak- 
ened, she was opened and strengthened to speak very 
strongly, which was writ down, viz. 

' Oh ! what a blessing have I enjoyed in this my 

* quarter of a year's weakness, it has been the best, 
r and most sweet, pleasant, and profitable time of all 
1 my life : I have seen the end of all wordly enjoy- 

* ments : and although I have a kind father, a loving 

* husband, and dear babes, yet I can freely, yea, 
' heartily, with all my heart, leave all to be with 
1 Christ my Redeemer, my Saviour, and the beloved 

* of my soul : oh ! he hath been near me, yea, with 

* me day and night ; he hath so drawn me, and won 

* upon me, with the cords of his love 3 talyng me by 



PIETY PROMOTED. 443 

* the hand and opening his arms, to receive me into 

* his bosom, that I am overcome with his love, and 

* very gentle has his hand been upon me; and he 

* hath blessed me with great content and patience : 

* I am freely resigned up unto the will of my God: 
' and as for my poor babes, I commit them to the 
f Lord that gave me them ; they have also two good 
1 fathers, that will take care of them, where I can 

* leave them freely ; only I desire thee, father, to take 

* care of John's schooling and education, and get him 

* apprentice to some good friend at Bristol, or else- 
' where, as thou seest fit. All my care I have cast 
' upon God, and upon- thee, my father and my hus- 
' band 5 so that I am easy, blessed be the Lord for 

* this good: and precious time, wherein I am freely 
' devoted to his will, and right glad to leave this 
' troublesome world, having the earnest of that eter-- 
'' nai glorious redemption, through my blessed Lord 
*and Saviour Jesus Christ.' 

Then calling her children one by one, charged- 
them, saying, * Fear God, dwell in love one with 

* another, and be sure obey your father ;' then bless- 
ing them particularly in the name of the Lord, and 
committing them all unto him : when she parted 
with her youngest babe, she kissed- her, and said,. 

* They tell me, ; that thou poor Lamb, wilt have the' 
'" greatest loss of me-; yet as I have cast all my care 

* for you upon the Lord, I am easy, and leave you to 
'his protection and divine providence, who gave you: 
' all to me, who'never fails those that trust in him, 
'being a tender Father, both to the fatherless and 
'motherless children/ 

And to her eldest son John, she farther added, 'I 
' have been a tender mother to you, and now must 
' leave you ; and therefore, dear child, observe the 
' counsel and advice of thy dying mother, write them 

* down and imprint them in thy mind ; first, I charge 

* thee to fear and remember God thy Creator in the 

16 



44-4 PIETY PROMOTED. 

' days of thy youth •, refrain all evil company ; he 
1 sober and attentive to all good counsel ; let not thy 
4 mind go a roving after foolish toys, and do nothing 
' but what is good and commendable ; and then thou 
1 wilt not need to make any excuse or lye; for a 
' lying tongue is an abomination to the Lord : read, 
1 and remember what wise Solomon saith will be 

* the portion of such as despise or neglect the good 
' counsel of father or mother, and thereby do evil in 

* breaking Gods command, to obey father and mo- 
' ther : oh ! dear child, consider of these tilings, and 
'be wise: God Almighty bless thee, and you all, 
' and preserve you out of all evil; this is the one 
c great thing that I desire for you ; not to be great in 

* the world, which hurts many ; but to be great in 

* virtue and godliness, which has the promise, both 
1 of this world and that which is to come.' 

Then she lay still some little time, desiring all 
might leave the room, except Anna, (her husband's 
eldest daughter) betwixt whom there had been a 
endearedness and strong bond of love; after 
some time her father, Thomas Camm, coming into 
the room again, and hearing her and her daughter 
Anna in discourse, sat down out of her sight, and 
heard her say to Anna, that she left her as a mother 
to her motherless children ; bidding her call to mind 
how she and her two younger sisters, by Providence 
fell under her care when very young, and how she 
had faithfully discharged her trust in tender care over 
them, and she desired no better for hers than she 
had clone for them, when they could not do for 
themselves: Anna then tenderly telling her mother, 
she hoped that they (viz. her children) fhould want 
nothing that was in her power to do for them, she 
being sensible of the strong obligation of duty she 
was under, and so they ieft things. — After some 
time, she said, c What a comfort and joy it is, to be 
4 so near the end of this troublesome world.' 



PIETY PROMOTED. 445 

She was always very glad of friends company m 
visits and little meetings, which at several times 
were kept in her chamber, which, she said, were to 
-her great refreshment; the last of which was the 
evening before she died ; after which, she said, 6 This 
1 is like to be the last/ And next morning said, 

* This night, and a little part of next day will finish 

* here.' And that night had very sharp pangs, hard 
for her dear father and others to hear, so that he 
left the room once or twice, but could not stay easily 
•in or out *, and an exercise (or concern) came upon 
his spirit, to pray to the Lord for her ; and the Lord 
was pleased to hear the supplication that\vas put up; 
so that she had no more such sharp pangs, and 
finished her course here on the 15th of the Seventh 
month, 1707 : and it is not doubted but she is at 
rest with the Lord. 

She was decently interred in her husband's bury- 
ing-place at Eldworth, on the 17th of the same 
month, being her birth day, and also her marriage 
day, which, had she lived to that day, her age would 
have been Thirty-eight years. 

The loss of her was greatly lamented, not only by 
her relations and nearest friends, but neighbours, 
both poor and rich, her loving, innocent and wise 
conduct and deportment having gained her great 
respect amongst persons of all sorts that knew her. 
Oh ! that many in observing and following her pious 
example, may be stirred up more and more to seek 
after virtue and godliness, and thereby purchase to 
themselves a good name, as she has done, through 
love and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, is the 
chief design in publishing these lines. 



I 



44$ PIETY PROMOTED. 

rpHOMAS DAMM, late of CamsgiH, in the county 
-*■ of Westmoreland, was born in the year 1641, 
of honest, religicus and godly parents, and well 
educated, and from his childhood was inclined to be 
religious, and sought after the best things, delighted 
in the company of the best, or most religious sort of 
people \ and in his tender years the Lord was pleased 
to visit him with the light of the day springing from 
on high, and thereby convinced him of his blessed 
and unchangeable truth ; even in the morning of the 
day, to these latter ages, of the world ; and after some 
time called him forth into the work o( the ministry, 
for which the Lord fitted him. And being thus vi- 
sited and called of God, he counted nothing too near 
or dear to part with for truth's sake j but left all to 
follow the Lord, and with his whole strength and 
Btlhstance was given up to serve him, and faithfully 
to do the work he was called to. And the Lord who 
had called him to such a great and glorious work, as- 
to preaching the everlasting gospel, did fitly qualify 
him for the same, pouring forth upon him of his 
holy spirit, and endued him with divine wisdom, 
whereby he was made an able preacher of the word 
of life to many, and could divide it aright, according 
to the states of the people. 

And as he was thus called and qualified, so he was 
diligent and laborious in the work of the Lord in 
many parts of this nation, and was made instrumental 
to convince and establish many in the way of truth ; 
his doctrine was sound, and his delivery powerful \ 
and though his testimony was not with the enticing 
words of men's wisdom, yet it was in the demon- 
stration of that divine power, which reached the 
witness of God in the hearts of the hearers. 

Great and many were the sufferings he met with,, 
and very patiently bore and went through, of many 
sorts and kinds, as imprisonments, spoiling of goods, 
Blockings and scoffings from those without, and suf- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 447 

fering among false brethren : in all which he stood 
firm and faithful in his testimony for truth, approv- 
ing himself a true follower of Jesus Christ, suffering 
joyfully for his name's sake, who had counted him 
worthy, not only to believe, but to suffer for him. 
And as he was .a man wonderfully endued with hea- 
venly and divine wisdom, so he was a man of great 
humility, very much labouring for love and unity 
amongst brethren, and where any thing appeared 
tending to a breach of it, he always used his utmost 
endeavours to put a stop thereto, approving himself 
to be a man of peace, and always laboured for it, 
both in the church and also amongst all sorts of 
people. He was a man beloved of God, and by all 
good men who knew him. He was a nursing father 
to many, encouraging every thing that was good in 
the least child ; but very zealous against every ap- 
pearance of evil ; especially against that which in 
any wise tended to the laying waste of that testimony 
which the Lord required his people to bear, being 
zealously concerned to keep his testimony clear in 
every branch of it : and as he was a man well quali- 
fied for discipline, so he laboured very much to pro- 
mote it* for the encouragement of them that were 
weak, and to bring to judgment those that were 
loose, and would let their testimony fall ; he was 
very zealous against that antichristian yoke of tithes, 
and though he suffered very much on that account, 
yet he stood faithful to the last, and rejoiced in his 
sufferings upon that, and all other accounts for 
truth's sake.. 

And though in the latter part of his time he was 
attended with much bodily weakness, which through 
the many hard labours, travels, and sufferings, was 
eome upon him, yet such was his zeal for truth, 
and love for the friends of it, that he was willing to 
spend his time and strength for and in the service of 



44^ TIETY PROMOTED. 

truth, wl.ic h he faithfully performed to the comfort 
ar.J. edification of the churches of Christ. 

On the r~ui of tl e Eleventh month, 1 7°7> having 
• of God to visit several meetings in 
the upper end of Lancashire, Westmoreland, and 
the west oi Yorkshire, he returned to his son John 
Moore's at Eldworth, and that very day it pleased 
the Lord, by a gentle hand (as he phrased it) to 
bring his old dUu-mper of stone and gravel upon 
him ; but after some few days grew more violent 
and I him ; lie bore it with much patience, 

and continued in a weakly distempered state of body 
for five Of six ■ ing but very little natural 

food, nor getting much sleep or rest at nights ; yet 
could walk up and down his chamber, and was 
always pretty cheerful, anil freely resigned unto the 
will el" God, often saying, ' I neither desire to 
1 live nor to die, hut am well content, however it 
1 shall please the Lord to order it;' farther saying, 
' Jf the Lord sue meet, or have yet any farther 
ice for me to do, it is easy with him to raise 
c me up again ; but his will be done, i am very well 

* content, I bless the. Lord.' 

Near the conclusion of his days, he said, c I have 

* great peace and satisfaction, in that I have done 
' the will of God ; I do not know I have much 
1 more to do, the time of my departure seems to 
'draw nigh ; but I am well satisfied; I bless the 

* Lord, 1 can say with the Apostle, " I have fought 
{i a good fight ; I have finished my course ; I have 
" kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me 
" a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the 
(( righteous judge shall give me at that day, and 
<c not to me only, but to them also that love his 
<c appearing." 

One day, he being sitting alone in his chamber, 
his son John Moore came and sat down by him, and, 
asked him how he did , he answered, ' I am but 



PIETY PROMOTED. 449 

€ weakly of body, but strong in the inner man, 
c blessed be the Lord, who hath been my support 
' and strength hitherto.' And he then farther said, 
' I have been pondering in my mind, and meditating 
*■ of the wonderful and unspeakable mercies and 
< loving kindnesses of God, to me extended all my 

* life long, even to this very day ; that I, such a 
c poor weak feeble creature, should be enabled to 

* hold out, and go through those many trials, travels, 

* sufferings and exercises, both inward and outward, 
c of various kinds, that hath fallen to my lot ; it has 

* indeed been the Lord's doings, who is and has 

* been all along my buckler and my shield, he shall 

* have the praise and the glory of all, for he alone 

* is worthy of it, for ever and for evermore.' 

His distemper continuing, and his bodily strength 
growing weaker, so that there was little likelihood 
of his recovery, he gave very plain and distinct 
directions concerning his burial, as one not much 
concerned at his approaching departure. 

And being grown so weak he could not well go 

alone, without some little support, one evening as 

he was walking over his chamber floor, leaning upon 

his son J. Moore's arm, his legs trembled under 

him, which he observing, said, ' Dear John, when 

the pillars of the house begin to tremble, there is 

feeble work ; but then blessed are they, who when . 

this earthly tabernacle is ready to be dissolved, do 

assuredly know that they have a habitation eternal 

in the heavens, whose builder and maker the Lord 

is ; of which, for my part, I bless the Lord I am 

well satisfied.' 

About a week before he died, several of John 
Moore's children being in the room with him, he 
said to 'them, '.Now I think I must leave you: if 
y the Lord had seen meet to have spared me a little 
' longer, I might have been of service to you in 
c counsel and advice \ but the Lordi the great and 



450 PIETY PROMOTED. 

' wise counsellor, as you have your eye unto him 

* above all things, will not be wanting to you in 

* counsel ; I love you entirely, and the blessing of 
' the Almighty rest upon you, if it be his Will.' 

He several times spoke concerning Esau ; one 
t me he .said, * Esau's mount was in part consumed, 

* and consuming ; yet there were branches still remain- 
1 ed ;' and said, the Lord lay it waste more and more. 

Another time he said, * Faith and patience, hope 
' and charity, are excellent virtues, the Lord, it it 
' be his will, endue Ids children and people more 
1 and more therewith/ 

When he \\ as grown so very weak, that the 
getting his cloaths on and off was somewhat difficult 
and troublesome, he one time said to them about 
him, 4 Dear children, you have a great deal of 
1 trouble and exercise about me, the Lord be your 

* reward \ but you shall see a little time will put an 
1 end to all these troubles, and a happy end it will 
' be tor me, I doubt it not at all.' 

Another time, being some days before he died, 
John Moore's eldest daughter standing by him, he 
took her by the hand, and said, ( Dear Anna, the 
1 Lord will reward thee for thy care and pains about 

* me ;' and seeing her affected with sorrow, (as well 
she might for the approaching loss of so near and 
dear a friend) he farther added, * Death will not be 
' said nay j but it will be well with me, the enemy 
4 cannot touch me j the Lord that hath been with 

* me, and hath borne up my spirit through and over 

* all the various exercises and trials of my time, he 

* will be with me to the end, there is no doubt 
« of it.' 

One time being lying upon his bed, in a sweet 
and heavenly frame of mind and spirit, he said, * I 

* have served the Lord in sincerity, with all my 

* heart, and with all my soul, and with all my 

* strength, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.' 



PIETY PROMOTED. 451 

And so went on praising and magnifying the Lord, 
to the melting and tendering the hearts of all pre- 
sent. Afterwards he said to John Moore, and some 
others being with him, ' Bear me record, I die in 
* perfect unity with the brethren •, my love is as firm 
' and true as ever in our Lord Jesus Christ, the 
' author of our salvation.' 

When grown very weak, being asked how he did, 
he would say, *■ Weak of body, but strong in the 
' Lord ;' saying also, ' in Abraham's bosom there is 
4 sweet repose/ — He divers times spoke of the effi- 
cacy and virtue of the wine of the kingdom ; and 
about two days before he died, he seemed to be 
faint, and J. Moore gave him a little wine to sup 
-on, thinking it might refresh him, but his stomach 
could not bear it •,- then looking pretty cheerfully at 
J. Moore, said, * Dear John, thou seest these things 
' will not do ; but one cup of new wine in the he-a- 
1 venly kingdom, with my dear and blessed Lord 
1 and Saviour Jesus Christ, will make up all.' 

Now his strength decaying very fast, he for the 
most part lay very still and quiet, as one waiting for 
his dissolution, not saying much, unless when spoken 
to, and then would answer very sensibly to what he 
was asked. 

And on that day he died, he was desirous to be 
helped up out of his bed, but seeing how very weak 
he was, he was put off for some time •, but he still 
urged it 5 J. Moore told him, he doubted he was so 
weak he could scarce bear it without fainting \ but 
those with him told him, they were willing to help 
him the best they could ; to which he replied very 
cheerfully, c That is enough, I hope the Lord, that 
' has been my help in many straits and difficulties, 
' will also now help me.' So his clothes were got 
ready, and by degrees got most of them on ; but 
before they had quite done, he was likely to faint ; 
§0 they set him down on the bed-side, and supported 



452 PIETY PROMOTED. 

liim a little, and after a vvhi!e he somewhat revived, 
and looking about him, he saw J, Moore's youngest 
child, betwixt two and three years old, standing be- 
fore him a little way off, and he beckoned with his 
hand, that she might come to him, and with a little 
help he set her upon his knees, and affectionately 
kissing and embracing her, he said, ' God Almighty 
1 bless thee ; the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of 
' Jacob, bless thee, and make thee happy, if it be 
* his will.' Then afrer a little time they got his 
clothes something better on, and set him in his 
chair, where he sat a pretty while, then growing 
weary, he desired to lie down upon his bed, which 
he did, and after a little time, he was perceived to 
weaken very fast; so he lay still and quiet, not 
saying any thing that could be heard or perceived t. 
but drawing his breath sometimes quicker and some- 
times slower, (yet without the least disturbance, or 
Stoppage of phlegm) he continued so for the space 
of about six hours, then stretching himself forth 
upon his bed, he departed this life without sigh or 
groan, as one falling into a deep sleep, on the 13th 
day of the First month, 170^, betwixt the hours 
of eleven and twelve in the night, being aged Sixty- 
six years, nine months, and ten days. 

Thus, having fought the good fight, and finish- 
ed his course well, he laid down his head in peace 
with the Lord, and is freed from all his. sufferings, 
sorrows and afflictions here, and entered no doubt 
into the kingdom of eternal glory, for ever to live 
and magnify and praise the great God,- world with- 
out end. And on the 15th of the same month, his 
body was removed from Eldworth, in Yorkshire, 
where he died, to his own late dwelling-house at 
Camsgiil, in Westmoreland, and on the 16th of the 
same month was carried in a solemn manner to 
friends burying-place at Park-end, in Preston-Pa- 
trick, (being about half a n.ile from Camsgill) and 



PIETY PROMOTED. 453 

it was accompanied thither by several hundreds of" 
people, (both of the neighbourhood, and also many 
friends out of divers of the adjacent counties) and 
was there interred in a decent Christian manner, 
there being a general appearance of sorrow in those 
present for the loss of so good and serviceable a man. 
The corpse being interred, all, or most that were 
there, drew into the meeting-house, and had a pre- 
cious edifying season together, the powerful living 
presence of the Lord, in an eminent manner, over- 
shadowing the assembly, to the tendering and affect- 
ing many hearts. And divers testimonies were then 
borne, to the sufficiency of that universal principle of 
divine light and grace, which is given to be a teacher 
and a leader unto all mankind, and is become the 
teacher and the leader of all those that are willing to 
be taught and led by it. But it is, and "will be the 
condemnation of all those that are disobedient to, 
and rebel against it, whilst they continue in that 
state. Also divers testimonies were borne, concern* 
ing this our dear friend deceased, as to his faithful- 
ness, care, and labour of love in serving of God's 
heritage ; as also with respect to the many trials, 
travels, and deep exercises that he had faithfully 
gone through in his day and time upon truth's ac- 
count ; all which he was enabled to perform and go 
through by the power and assistance of that divine 
grace, and holy spirit of God, (which he still ac- 
counted his buckler and his' shield, his bow and his 
battle-axe) and by and through which, he was what 
he was, and ±0 which alone, and not to him fas 
man) the praise and glory of all was attributed. So 
friends having cleared themselves of what was upon 
their minds, the meeting broke up, and friends 
parted with hearts deeply affected, and filled with 
the love and goodness of God, which had beer* 
plentifully shed abroad amongst them that day, 
praises, honour, and glory over all, be given uut» 



454 PiEYY PROMOTED. 

God, and to the Lamb, who sits with him' upon the 
throne, who is worthy for ever, and for evermore. 
Amen. 



"OICHARD DAVIS, of Cloddiecochion, in Mont- 
-**- gomeryshire, by trade a Fevt-maker, was con- 
vinced of the blessed truth about the year 1657, and 
became faithful unto the Lord, through the power of 
it, and thereby was made a minister of the word of 
lite, and was concerned freely to preach the gospel 
of Salvation, and was endued with spiritual gifts, and 
able in the exercise thereof in the churches 
of Christ, both with respect to his sound doctrine 
and exemplary conversation, ami diligence to serve 
the widow and fatherless, and was fervent in prayer. 
His last sickness was but short, for he was taken ill 
on the sixth-day of the week, and died on the First- 
day oi the next following; and some friends of 
DoK 'bran meeting enme to him, and they had a meet- 
ing with him in his bed chamber, and he desired 
them to pray to the Lord, that he might have an easy 
passage, saying, ' The fervent prayer of the right- 
eous the Lord would have a regard unto: , But his 
pain continuing upon him, the next day, being the 
a 2d of the First month, 1708, about the ninth hour 
in the morning, he departed this life, and had an 
easy passage, as it were in a sieep, having often said 
lie must sleep his long sleep. And his body, on the 
25th of the same month, was accompanied with a 
considerable number of friends and other people, to 
the burying-place near his own house at Cloddieco- 
chion, and there decently interred, and no doubt but 
his soul is at rest with the Lord. 

Aged Seventy-three 5 a minister about Forty-five 
years. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 455 

G ARAH GODFRY, wife of Benjamin Godfry, 
^ of Chipin, near Buntingford, in the county of 
Hartford, daughter of George and Sarah Robins, of 
Sandon, in the said county, was one that loved truth 
in her young years, and with a tender heart did seek 
the Lord often, both in and out of meetings, and 
was very watchful over her words, lest she should 
offend the Lord, or give an evil example to others. 
She was obedient to her parents, and tender to her 
brethren and sisters, and would give them good ad- 
vice. And after she was married, and had children, 
she was concerned for them, and desired a meeting 
at her house, for the good of her neighbours, which 
was had ; and at the conclusion of which, she spake 
with a loud voice, and said, ' Ever blessed and 

* praised be the name of the Lord for this blessed 

* opportunity ;' which much affected the people, 
knowing her great weakness. She also expressed 
her willingness to die, and leave husband and child- 
ren, to go to the Lord ; and then she said, ' Blessed, 
f praised, honoured, renowned, magnified, and glo- 

* fied be thy name, for thou art worthy of all bless- 

* ing, praise, glory and honour, for thou art a mer- 

* ciful God y and after this manner she lay praising 
the Lord for some time. A neighbour coming in, 
that was not called a Quaker, seeing her in such a 
heavenly frame, spoke with tears, She will not 
leave her fellow behind her, she will reap the fruit 
of her doings, joy unspeakable, and full of glory ; 
what a mercy, adds the neighbour, it is, the Lord 
lays no more upon her, than he gives her patience to 
bear. She answered, > The Lord is very good to 

* me, what a great mercy it is, that I am so willing 

* to die ; what a comfort it is, over it would be, i£ 
c I was in great distress. — I feel no condemnation/— 
She desired her mother to hold her hands as she sate 
in her chair^ * for,' said she, f I think I am going, 

* and that I feel great peace -,' and her mother seeing 



456 PIETY PROMOTED. 

her in such a still comfortable condition, sate a 
while very still, and after she said, * Lord, Lord, 
4 receive my soul,' and so departed like a lamb, in 
about a quarter of an hour. 



JOHN PETERS, of the parish of Minver, in the 
*^ county of Cornwall, about the 26th year of his 
age, received the knowledge of the blessed truth, and 
joined in profession with the people called Quakers, 
and being -zealous and faithful unto the Lord, he be- 
stowed upon him a gift, and called him into the 
ministry of the word oi' life, in which he diligently 
Was exercised for many years, and laboured in the 
work of the gospel of Christ freely and faithfully to 
the end of his days, and was a good example in hi.-; 
life and conversation, and careful so to walk, that 
the ministry might not be blamed in any thing by 
him, being endued with the spirit of wisdom and 
understanding, and travelled much, not only in the 
county where he lived, but frequently in the south 
and western counties of England, and some parts of 
Wales ; ami as he was well known, he was well re- 
ceived by the faithful. 

When he thought he was near expiring, he got 
himself raised in his bed, and said, * It is the Lord'i 

* great mercy, who in the midst of the pains and 
' anguish that attend our bodies, gives \is resignation 

* of mind to his divine will. This (said he) may be 

* soon spoken of ; but it is sweet to come to the 

* living experience of it, and God hath mercifully 
c given me this resignation and quietness of mind, in 
( which I have peace, notwithstanding the weakness 
c and pains I lie under.' 

Then observing some young people about his bed, 
he counselled them to keep low in the fear of the 
Lord, not to seek to them&elves great things, nor to 



HETY PROMOTED. 457 

post after the riches of this world ; though a moderate 
care, within the bounds of truth was allowable ; but 
he spoke against the extending our desires that way, 
to the forgetting the work of religion, and the pre- 
paration for our latter end ; * For,' said he, ' a little 
6 with God's blessing will suffice. ' And sweetly en- 
larged on the benefit of his blessing, and the differ- 
ence between those, and them cursed, adding, ' In 
*lny young years I had a belief raised in me, that if 
' I lived in the fear of God, I nor mine should never 

* want : and it hath been all along confirmed to me.* 
And said farther, * My heart is full of the love of 

* God, and the sting of death is taken away ;" 
adding, ' it would indeed be sad, at such a season 
'of a languishing body, to have a load of sin on 

* the squL' 

Many other seasonable counsels he then gave, that 
are not noted. Another day he said to friends pre- 
sent, c We have cause to be thankful unto God for 
"* making known to us his truth,' saying, ' I am evi- 
dently satisfied, that -the way the Lord hath brought 

* us into, is the way of truth:' And spoke of the ne- 
cessity of living in obedience to it, that it might be a 
cross to our wills, and bridle to our tongues, and a 
stay to our minds. He also said, £ Wait for wisdom 

* and direction from the Lord, to enable to such ser- 

* vices' (he requires,) saying that the strength of man's 
parts was not sufficient to do the Lord's work ; and 
counselled, that love might be the principal motive 
in all public concerns 5 and therein to rebuke, to ex- 
hort, and to counsel; and i£ in those labours, we 
meet with cross and peevish spirited people, that 
care might be, not to suffer the same spirit to sway 
us j but to overcome the evil Math good, saying, 

* I have nothing in appearance but death before me ; 

* but am well satisfied, however the Lord deals with 
■* me ; for,' said he, * I am sound in mind, through 

Vol. I. U v - 



458 PIETY PROMOTED. 

' the Lord's mercy, and hnve abundance of ea^e, — 
4 I am not afraid to die, the sting of death is taken 

* away -,' for which he praised the Lord •, and some 
of his relations being desirous he should try another 
doctor, he said, ' Be quiet, be still, if the Lord sec 
' meet to lengthen my days, he can soon heal my 
1 malady.; if otherwise, I am content; for,' adds lie, 

np small comfort to me, that I did not hearken 
k to the persuasions of so ujd have me go 

c fmm one doctor to another; my confidence is in 

* him, who is the alone physician of v. due. If the 
1 L rd hath any further work or service for me to 

he can heal me; if not, 1 have done with this 

* world.' 

And when near his end, lie said to Ids wife, fas he 
had often) ' Mourn not for me when I am gone; 
' I am waiting for my i fsiring to he dis- 

* solved ; death is n< t fearful, rhe taken 

II Eten cried to tl • Lord ha- a blessing 

en h.is son, whom God had left him of ten children, 

said, ' I desired before ever Clod gave me a 

* child, they mi . be taken off in the inno- 

* cency of their days, than live to dishonour him.' 
So in the fear and favour uf God, he departed tin's 
life the iith of the Seventh month, i;c8. 

Aged about Sixty-three ; convinced about Thirty- 
seven *, and a minister about Twenty-five years. 

He was also prisoner several years for his tes- 
timony against tithes, and for refusing to swear, in 
obedience to Christ's command. 

His body was interred the 13th of the said Seventh 
month, in Friends burying-ground at JVIinver, being 
attended thither by a numerous company of friends, 
relations, and neighbours, and sundry testimonies 
were borne after, to the light, life, and virtue, where- 
with God had beautified our friend, while he abode 
amongst us ; as also to the necessity of holiness and 



PIETY PROMOTED. 459 

obedience, that those that succeed him might come 
to die the death of the righteous, and that their 
latter end might be like unto his. 



/GEORGE NEWLAND, sori of George and 
^- jr Susannah Newland, of the City of Dublin, clo- 
thier, was an orderly and dutiful child, and sought 
the Lord in his young and tender years ; and when 
he was drawn, or persuaded by his school-fellows to 
play, or be wild, he afterwards would be under 
such trouble hi himself, that he would weep and 
•mourn in the night season. And when about ten- 
years of age, desired he might be sent into the coun- 
try, and retire from his companions in the city. So, 
in a while his parents sent him into England, and; 
boarded him at Eleanor Haycock's, widow, near 
Sanky, and he went to school unto Gilbert Thomp- 
son, at Sanky in Lancashire. 

About the age of eleven or twelve years, the Lord 
concerned him to give testimony unto the truth, 
calling him into the ministry, in which he was faith- 
ful, and travelled in the work thereof, and in the 
exercise of that gift the Lord had bestowed upon 
him, in the provinces of Limster, Ulster, and Mun- 
ster, in Ireland; and being endued with a good un- 
derstanding, was not rash to utter words, without 
the help or motion of God's Spirit j so that his tes- 
timony and ministry was not only instructing but 
edifying ; and being an innocent youth, was beloved 
of faithful friends because thereof, and his exem- 
plary conversation, which was according to the holy 
doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Between the age of eighteen and nineteen years, 

he was visited with lingering sickness, and his mother 

asked him, after some time, whether he thought he 

should recover ; to which he then answered, he did 

U2 



4$p PIETY PROMOTED. 

not know -, but if it was the Lord's will, he had 
rather die than live-, but said he durst not desire it, 
udding, although his time had been short in the 
world) he had gone through a great deal of exercise 
and trouble, that none knew but the Lord alone. 
Another time he said to his mother, * I have felt 

* more of the Lord's love to me since I was sick, 
' in a wonderful manner, than ever before/ Again 
said, 4 I strove to serve the Lord in my health, and 

* now 1 reap the benefit of it ; I can look forward, 
' ami that is a mercy.' And being frequently com- 
forted in Spirit, and filled with the love of (Jod, he 
would say, ' Oh ! if the earnest be so precious, 
■ what will the fullness be !' And when weak in 
body, he was strengthened in spirit, and enlarged to 

■ and magnify the Lord \ and he was opened to 
give good counsel am! advice tolds brother Isaac,taking 
him by the hand, kissing him, saying, ' I love thee 
4 dearly! be sure thou fear and serve the Lord, and be 

* obedient to thy parents j for though thou be young 

* and strong now, yet thou knows not how few thy 
4 d; \ may be : I speak to thee in love, remember 

* mv !i when I am gone; and that it will 
' be enough in a dying condition, to bear the pain 

* and affliction of body, without having a troubled 

* conscience ;' and therefore encouraged him to 
well-doing. Ar.d much more was spoken by him to 
ill s sister Elizabeth, whom he called also, and kissed 
her, and tenderly desired her to love and fear the 
Lord, and be dutiful to her parents ; and in like 
manner to his sister Lydia, saying, he hoped she 
would be an honest woman ; and said, * In my 
( health when I went to bed, I did meditate and 

* think upon the Lord, and now in my sickness I 
s find the benefit thereof/ Then tenderly acknow- 
ledging the love and care of his parents towards him, 
said, * If I live, lean never make you amends for 
i your trouble and care over me. 3 And a few day* 



PIETY PROMOTE!! 4:61 

before liis death, said unto his mother, • e I love thee 

* ■dearly;' and saluting her, saying, -' I hope the 

* li-ord will reward thee for all thy trouble and care 

* over me, and I hope we shall meet shortly, where 
s we shall never part again,' And seme hours be- 
fore his departure, being overcome with the good- 
ness of God, he was enabled to praise and celebrate' 
his name, saying with admiration, i How good,' 

* Lord, art thou to me I and I am not worthy of 

* the least of thy mercies and favours;' — and con- 
tinued to praise the Lord in such manner, that all' 
that were in the room were reached and arreted," 
and broken by the power of God that attended him, 
during that season ; and his uncle John coming to 
take leave of him, seeing him in this condition, yet 
near dying, said he would not leave him till he saw 
him m his grave; although he had intended before 
to go home to his dwelling that was in the country ; 
for he was tendered to see him in such a frame of 
mind ; though not a frequenter of the meetings of 
those called Quakers, but said he was satisfied (this 
youth) was going to his heavenly rest. That night 
he was earnest with his mother to lie down and get 
some rest ; but after" a little while called for her 
again, and said c My dear mother, take, it patiently,' 
'• for thou mayst rejoice that I am going ; ' and he* 
desired all to be quiet and still , and he sent several 
times to see "what hour it was by the clock*, and' 
being sensible his change was near, settled his head' 
to the pillow, and quietly departed this life, like an 
innocent lamb, on the 24th of the Eighth month, 
1708, about the 2d hour in the morning, and was 
buried the 26th of the same month, in friends'' 
Burying-place, near Dolphin's Barn,- being accom- 
panied to the grave by many friends and neigh- 
bours. 

Aged near Nineteen, and a minister about six 
-**ears.. 



462 PIETY PROMOTED. 

And this testimony was given by his friends in 
Dublin concerning him, which I thought meet here 
to insert. 

• It pleased the Lord to favour this youth with a 
gracious visitation, even in his childhood, and so to 
ire him for his service, whereunto he appointed 
him, that there appeared deep impression of a con- 
i eg] mind, for the good anci eternal well-being 
of his soul j and as he grew in years, he apparently 
grew in grace, and in the knowledge of God, and 
m the Lord Jesus Christ; so that the Lord 
was pleased to put him into the ministry, which, 
although young] he being sensible of the appear- 
ance of the Son of God in his heart, did deliver 
his testimony with a good understanding, not being 
forward or rash to utter words ; but waited for 
that which is the fountain of all true ministry, viz. 
The help of the Spirit of God, that enables God's 
ministers to speak to the edifying, and instructing, 
and building up of one another in the love of God ; 
and this being the concern of this innocent youth, 
made him to be beloved of faithful friends that 
knew him •, and the more, because his conversation 
agreed with his doctrine. He went abroad some- 
times to visit friends in this province of Limster, 
a:ul was also in Ulster and Munster provinces, and 
friends had generally a love and respect for him,, 
and there would commonly be great meetings 
where he was, both friends and others admiring 
the Lord's dealings with him, in his tender years, 
being but about twelve years old, when his mouth 
was first opened in meetings, in a testimony for 
God. We have a great loss of him, he being such 
a good example to our youth, both in that, and also 
in his conversation ; too few being willing to follow 
him in that true nearness of walking with God, as 
he did , but love liberty to the flesh and will, that 



: PIETY PROMOTED. 463 

€ works not the righteousness of God, but brings 

* trouble- and grief on those that are concerned for 
1 the well-being of their immortal souls, which this 

* youth was careful to avoid ; whose behaviour was 

* more like a man of grey hairs, (than one not at- 

* tained to nineteen years) being not desirous of long: 

* life in this world, as he used to express sometimes ; 

* but rather that he might do his day's work, being 
€ ready and prepared, when the Lord was pleased to 
s call him hence, to have a portion and lot in God's 

* kingdom, of that life and peace that is everlasting. 

* And when he was visited with the sickness of which 

* he died, which continued on him about a quarter 

* of a year, he bore it with much patience and re- 
signation to the will of God, and very cheerfully *, 

* which was comfortable, both to his parents and 

* friends that visited him, in the time of his illness of 

* body, to behold. 

* Before his departure, he was concerned to advise 

* and counsel his brother and sister to fear and love 

* God, and be dutiful to their parents, &c. And 

* though it is our loss, (to have such an one taken 

* from us) and we Relieve it is his gain, to be re- 

* moved from where trouble and temptations attend, 
' to where the wicked cease from troubling, and the 
6 weary are at rest. 

* From our meeting in Dublin, the 19th of the 

c Second month, 1709. 

* Signed in behalf of the said meeting, by 

* Amos Strattell, 
' Richard Sealey, 

* George Rook.' 



U4 



PIETY PROMOTED. 



S 



iJAMUEL WATSON, of Night Stanford, in 

Yorkshire, was early convinced of the blessed 

truth, ed hv the people called Ouakers, 

and being faithful unto the Lord, was, by his divine 

spirit, fitted for the ministry of the word 

i and called by the grace of God to preach the 

. and to labour in the service of God, 

d of souls, for many years, and the Lord 

i ith him, and he was kept in a sweet sense and 

ig of the life and power of truth to the end ; 

h in his latter time he had a long season of 

• would very often express, not 

Irn since the time of 

nt, but also was frequent in 

advice to those that visited him, 

r.i the pure feaf of God, it is as a 

, anil that from thence all our com- 

; id it is that which makes people 

.-, both in their youth and old age !' 

died at Chester, and was buried there the 

th of the Ninth month, iyo8. Aged about 

Eighty-eight years. 



TORN EOULTON, late of Gaunt's-Ircot, in the 
1 g nsh of Aldmunsbury, in the county of Glou- 
3 a faithful labourer, and true minister of 
-.pel, who travelled freely to preach the same, 
and had eminent service therein, as many can witness, 
for a divine power attended his ministry, and many 
hearts wore tendered, and brought into true con- 
tr::ioK, and to sit under his doctrine with delight, 
and were greatly comforted, refreshed, and edified. 
And he was very serviceable in monthly and quar- 
terly meetings, and zealous against the antichristian 
yoke of tithes, and esteemed it an honourable tes- 
timony ; and his faith was, that none would ever 
prosper in the truth, that were unfaithful therein^ 



PIETY PROMOTED. 4% 

He was of an innocent life, and exemplary conver- 
sation, and, of a peaceable spirit, and made it ni£ 
concern to keep love, unity,- and concord, and fre- 
quently exhorted thereunto j and was an elder that 
deserved double honour, and as a nursing father in 
the church of Christ, and his memory is sweet^and 
blessed. 

In his last illness he often advised friends to be 
faithful to what the Lord had made known- unto 
them, while they had their health ,, and said, * The 
f Lord is good to me, it is well with me :— the Lord 
' is wonderful good to me:'— Again, ' If the Lord's 

* will is to take me out of this troublesome world, I 

* am very well- content r I am in love and peace with 
' all men ; : all is well ;, Is shall go but a little before 
'you: I have made my peace with the Lord, his 
' will be done by me- y I- am contented, it is well 
- s with me.' 

These words- he spoke a ^ little before his deaths 
and growing weak,, he desired the Lord to make his 
passage out of this life easy; - A friend then taking 
leave. of him, that was going, to the quarterly-meeting, 
he said, ' The salutation of my dear love, in the 
.' Lord Jesus Christ, is to all friends -/ and about an 
hour after, he said, * The Lord hath been wonderfully 
4 kind to me, in making my passage easy V and so in 
a little time after departed in much quietness, the 
29th of the Ninth month, 1709, and was honourably 
buried at Hossel, being accompanied with- many. 
friends and neighbours . 

Aged Sixty-one years. 



T\/f ARGARET 'DIAMON,.wife of RibhardiPia-- 
,-** t- mon, of London,- merchant, was daughter of 
captain John Groves, late of the parish of Ber~- 
mondsev,. in Surry, mariner, deceased, and- reli= 

u 5 



465 PIETY PROMOTED. 

giously educated by her parents in the Christian 
religion, among the people called Quakers, in which 
She continued to her end. And in the latter part 
o* her time was visited with much sickness, and 
great pain; yet retained her love to the Lord, his 
truth, and fa.thful people, and her faith and hope 
In God, as appeared by \rhat she declared, when 
she said unto her husband one morning, viz. ' Oh, 
' my dear ! I have had a very wearisome night, and 

* no rest •, I have been in a bewildered state ; but the 
4 Lord I believe will satisfy my poor soul, it is that 

* I now wait for/ And after this she desired her 
husband to call all their children, which was done; 
unto whom, when come, she said, ' Be careful to 
' keep near the Lord, and in plainness; that it may 
■ not be said to vou, * If your mother was alive, she 

* would not Buffer you to take this liberty.' And 
whefl she had given them this charge, and tender 
advice on her dying bed, worthy to be remembered, 
and duly observed, she desired her husband to send 
to her relations, which he d\d ; and when they 
came, she in much love spake to them ; which, 
although the words were not noted down, it is hoped 
will be remembered by them, and her dying coun- 
sel taken ; which when she had given, she, in much 
sweetness took her leave of them. And after, said 
unto her husband, * The Lord hath been very good 

* to us, I desire we may walk worthy; for a little 
' time will finish here, and I urn contented in the 

* Lord's will, and hope we shall meet together in 
' heaven, my dear and tender husband.' Another 
time she said, * The Lord hath often comforted me, 

* and made my bed a bed of ease unto me;' and 
*hen added, * I have been wrapped up in too much 
1 outward enjoyments, now I am out of them, I 

* have desired the Lord to search me thoroughly, 

* that nothing may remain in me that is displeasing 

* to him j my great care and desire unto the Lord 



PIITY PROMOTED. 467 

1 hath been, that I may hold out unto the end ;' her 
husband answered, * The Lord hears thy unfeigned 
prayers*,' she replied, * If Daniel and Moses stood 

* by me, and said it would be well with me, it 

* would avail nothing, unless I have the witness in 
4 myself;' adding, c he that hath been my support 

* to this day, I do hope and believe will be with me 
4 unto the end;' and then lay still : but after, she 
said, ' Lord, I beseech thee, shorten this great work 

* for thy mercies sake, for thy dear Son my me- 

* diator's sake, if it be thy blessed will, and sup- 

* port me through the valley of the shadow of 

* death, that my faith fail not ; but that an eye of 
s faith may be kept open to look to thee ; Lord, 

* thou that commandest the winds and the raging 

* waves of the sea to be still, and they obey thee, 
1 art able to make this sick bed a bed of ease ; Lord 

* be with me, I beseech thee ; and then no matter 
f what becomes of this body, nor what I go through, 

* for there will be an end to that ; but Lord be with 

* me this night, I beseech the**, for I am a poor 
' weak creature, ; therefore, O Lord, I beseech thee, 
' support me, receive me into thy merciful arms, 
c and lead me into the bride chamber, where I may 

* for ever rest with thee/ 

Then she took her husband by the hand, and 
earnestly intreated his heart might be to the 
Lord, and said, ' Leave off the cares of this life, 

* and seek the Lord above all/ So desiring all might 
be still, she lay down in a sweet state, desiring to 
be kept humble at Christ's feet. 

The day before she was taken speechless, she told 
her husband her speech would be taken away, 
saying, ■ For it is the twelfth hour, and the midnight 

* cry, that the bride-groom was come ;' and said, 
c I am satisfied, my lamp is ready trimmed ;' and 
after, farther said, f Oh 1 Jacob's God, and Israel's 

* king, tho« art able to do all things, nothing is too 

U 6 



468 PIETY PROMOTED. 

4 hard for thee ; Lord grant that my passage may be 
c quick and short, and rather that my tongue may 
4 cleave to the roof of my mouth, than I should 
; speak one word to dishonour thee, Lord : Lord 
' thou knowest what a night of sorrow and exercise 
1 this hath been to me ; but thou art able to do all 
' things, for if thou speaks the word it is done.' 
Fh< n i her husband, ' Oh ! have thy heart 

he Lord for me, and speak to them thou know- 
tO be honest good friends, to have their hearts 
* to tiie Lord for me.' And then spake her last 
. viz. 'Lord, Lmd, Lord, thou art Jacob's God 
l's king, thou art a shadow of a mighty 
weary land :' adding, ■ Oh ! Sion, Ston, 
f saints solemnity, beauty, the beauty of 
' holiness.' Then spoke no more, and died some 
-once with God it ib not doubted, 
and is in his paradise, for she was a virtuous woman, 
, and tender mother^ and charitable. 
She was born the l6th of the Twelfth month, 
1658, dnd died the 1st of the Tenth month, 1708, 
cibout Fifty years ; and was decently buried 
irom the meeting-house, at Horslydown, and her 
corpse accompanied to the burying-ground, belong- 
ing to the same, by her relations and friends that 
loved her, and lamented the loss of. her. 



JOHN TAYLOR was born at Sillath, m Abbey- 
*? holme, in the county of Cumberland, in the year, 
16545 of honest parents, who educated him with 
the foremost in that part where he lived; 

In the year 1674, the Twentieth of his age, he was 

convinced of the blessed: truth, (by the testimony of 

John Graves) and gladly received the same in the 

love of it, and so continued with the people of God, 

ng uron the Lord in silence the space of. three 



PIETY PROMOTED. 4 6> 

years, and then it pleased the Lord t-o open his 
mouth to bear a testimony to the blessed truth, in 
which he was very serviceable^ both among friends 
and others at home, and abroad in Scotland also,. 
where he travelled three or four times y and- had 
good service in many parts of this nation. He bore 
a faithful testimony for the- Lord ; he was sound i& 
doctrine, and of a good understanding in disciplines, 
whereby he became very serviceable in monthly 
and quarterly meetings ; he was a sincere hearted 
man, and his deportment and behaviour such, that 
he had an influence upon all sorts of people, for his 
good deportment and meek and quiet spirit. He met 
with many trials of divers sorts, ?md yet was pre- 
served in a meek and even temper, and he suffered 
much upon the account of tithes, which he bore 
with great patience, and was never known to- 
rn urmur. 

In the year 1708, in the Fourth month, he was 
visited with sickness, and then he gave good advice 
to many that came to see him, both friends and 
others; and being restored to a measure of health, 
he visited friends in Yorkshire, where he had good 
service for the Lord, and returned in great peace, 
and about a month after he was taken sick again, of 
which he died ; and. in the time of his sickness he 
was preserved in a, sweet frame of spirit,, and had 
the evidence that he should have a mansion in the 
Lord's house, sayingj ( I feel the spirit of the Lord 

* coming down upon me, to change me from mor- 

* tality to immortality;' and desired the Lord would 
make his, passage easy, and he had his desire. 

Aged about Fifty-four, convinced Thirty-four, a 
minister about Thirty-one years. 

He died the 8th of the First month, 170!, and: 
was buried at Abbey-holme, his corpse being ac- 
companied by many friends and others* 



4?o FIETT FROMOTFD. 

ll^ILUAM ELLIS, of Airtcn, in Yorkshire, 
* was born the 5th of the Eighth month, 1658, 
and convinced of the living and powerful truth in 
the Third month, 1676, and being called and qua- 
lified by the Lord to be a minister of the gospel of 
peace and salvation, lie was faithful to hug call, and 
laboured and travelled in the work of the ministry in 
this nation, and Ireland, also in Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, Carolina, Pennsylvania, New England, and 
Other parts of America. A few days before his de- 
parture, he s :id, speaking of his convincemem, l It 
IS day to him. And lie had large 
.!->, that the clay ol his deatli would be so Rke* 
And many sweet and edifying expressions 
dropped from him, in cheerfulness of mind, which 
shew.'! how ready he was t.> embrace death. 

He dud on tiie 4th of the Fourth month, 1709. 

near Fifty-one year^. Convinced of truth- 

about I hirty-three years. And was buried at friends 

^-ground, at Anton, and a large meeting 

there was, which was eminently attended with the 

I nee of the Lord, and several living testimonies 

borne, to the comfort and satisfaction of 

many. 



Vl/ILLIAM BARCRAFT, late of Bally-Britton, 
* * in King's County, in the kingdom of Ireland, 
aged Twenty-eight years Five days ; before his de- 
parture, was in a violent fit taken speechless, but his 
speech returning again, he expressed himself to his 
dear wife and mother-in-law, and friends present, 
(being in a heavenly frame of niind, and his pain 
teeming to them to be taken away) thus, * I am ex- 

* ceedin^ glad to see you ; (forj the Lord's love and 
' mercy is exceeding great, and this is beyond my 

* expectation, that I have mercy of the Lord to 
1 speak to you j — the presence of the Lord at such a 



PIETY PROMOTED. ^ 471 

' time as tliis, makes afHictions easy to his people,— 

* and it is an advantage friends have in feeling and 
f enjoying the presence of the Lord •,' and said, * I 
r am easy to Jeave this world, in hopes of a glorious 
'time to come, in the kingdom of eternal peace \* 
and then desired his mother-in-law to remember his^ 
dear love to his father, brother, sister, relations and 
friends, and that (as) they had bestowed their 
daughter on him, now he would bestow (or com- 
mend) her, and his children to the Lord, and her 
tender parents ; ' and to my uncle/ said he, * who I 

* am sure hath been tender of me.' Then desiring 
his wife several times, to give him freely up ro the 
Lord, that he might be easy ; and said, ' who know- 

* eth, but there may be a service in my going now, 
c I desire thee, (i. e. his wife) bring up my children 

* in the fear of the Lord, and in plainness of habit 

* and speech, and in lowliness, and whether they 

* have little or much, it w ill be well enough 5 ' and 
further sa?d to her, c trust thou in the Lord, and 
' keep near to friends, and it will be well with 
4 thee.' 

His wife being in a tender or melted frame of 
heart, said, i I do trust in the Lord, and give thee up 
to him 5' which seemed to give him much satis- 
faction. And he called his brother-in-law James to 
him, and warned him to be of a savoury life, and 
to love the fear of the Lord, and to be careful to 
keep out of pride and height, and out of bad com- 
pany ; and added, ' be sure walk low and humble, 

* and be obedient to thy parents ; for I never knew 

* any disobedient to their parents do well ; and be 
' sure to tell thy brother Joseph, to walk low and 

* humble ; and if ever he expects joy and comfort, 
' to be obedient to his mother •, for when I at any 

* time did grieve my mother, I was troubled and 

* sorry for it ; and tell or advise thy sister Martha, 
? to have a care of that high city, (i. e. Dublin) and 



4;* PIETY PROMOTED. 

4 be sure lo keep low and humble ;' saying, ' ther.l 
4 was great danger in that city, for youth to be led 

* away from the Lord ; but if they did serve the 

• I carefully, it would be well with them ; ' and 
desired i friend that was present, to tell his brother 
Thomas, to be of a sober life and conversation 
, and to bo a good example in the 
place where he lived, and whatever lie did, he should 
have an eye to the Lord, artel not to be high-minded* 
but low and humble ; and said, * from a child I 
1 always loved the company of good honest friends, 

* for which I was always the better-, though 1 have 

* had • vet through all I had 
1 an eye to the Lord" : adding, it is a bravo thing to 
'have nothing to do but to die' And to his wife, 

:■ ar, comfort thyself, in that it will 

* I).' veil with me. J In I be farther said to his 
friends that stood by, i How many precious heavenly 
' meetings have we had •, but said he) it hath been 

rouble to mo, to sec how dull and sleepy 

ve been, and others unconcerned, both old 

1 and young, m such a glorious day as this is, where 

' the Lord hath appeared so eminently amongst us ; 

* and many times of late, I thought I saw a more 
' glorious day approaching than ever*,' then saying 
' Oh ! is not this (speaking of the opportunity he 
' had with las friends, a precious comfortable thing 
' to have this sweet opportunity, this is what my 
1 heart desired ; I care not how many young people 
( were here, I should be glad if all the meeting, and 
' several others were here ;.' adding, ' I wish all the 

* high and lefty ones would look. back, and see what 
' they were.' All which being spoken in a good 
sense of the Lord's heavenly presence, did mightily 
tender friends hearts" that stood by, and ended in 
prayer and thanksgiving to him that lives for ever 
and ever, Amen; And gave good ground of . hope, 
that the Lord shewed him mercy*, and called him to 



PIETY PROMOTED . 473" 

glory and peace for ever. And when he took leave 
of friends, he said* c I am very easy \ and departed 
the 5th of the Sixth month, 1709. 



^HOMAS BARCRAFT, brother to the aforesaid 
-*- William Barcraft, was taken- ill of the same 
distemper upon the 15th of the Eleventh month 
following j his uncle and aunt Barcraft were sitting 
by him, and perceiving him to be under exercise of 
mind for peace with the Lord, his uncle inquired of 
him as to his condition* and he answered as followeth ; 
{ Sometimes I think I shall recover, and other times 
' I think I shall not ; bmt my desire is, if I recover, 
c to improve my time. — I find most ease in submitting 

* myself unto the will of God, — 1 never wronged 
4 any body knowingly, nor acted any gross thing, 

* but that which is my great trouble, is, that I did 
'not "live so savoury a life and conversation as 
' I should hare done ; but gave way to lightness, 

* that was hurtful to me, which if I live, I hope to 

* warn others of,' and said to his uncle and aunt 5 
4 Whenever you reproved me for such things I was 
4 always glad of it ; but did not take that notice of 

* it that I now see I ought to have done : that 
4 which seemed but little to me then,, now seems 

* a great deal; but if I should live, and not improve 
4 my time^ it. is best for me to go- now, fori am in 
4 hopes there is mercy for me.' 

He departed this life the 18th of the. Eleventh 
month,. 1709, so that he lay sick but three days: 
therefore it is needful for all to improve the present 
time ; fear God, and live soberly therein, and to 
have their conversations coupled therewith, and to 
take heed to reproof; not give way to lightness,, 
nor esteem that a little thing; for it behoves young 
men and women, and all, robe sober, and gird up 
the loins of their minds* and hope to the end,. 



474 PIETY PROMOTED. 

{"OLIVER SANSOM, late of Abingdon, forw>*rfy 
of Farrington, in Berkshire, was convinced of 
the blessed truth of God in the year 1657, received 
it in the love thereof, and was faithful to it, and the 
Lord was pleased (having fitted him for his service, 
and endued him with wisdom, understanding and 
sound judgment) to call him into the ministry, to 
pYeach and labour in the gospel of Christ and love 
of God for the good of souls j which he did freely 
in this nation, and Ireland, and was a valiant 
sufferer for the truth, and the testimony thereof, 
against all swearing and tithes, and what the Lord 
raised him up in his power to testify against. Who 
when on his death-bed, a friend came in love to see 
him, said, * We that are young in years shall 

* greatly miss thy company amongst us-,' to which 
Oliver Sansora replied, 4 By reason of my age, it is 
4 not likely I should continue long with you; but 
' be you faithful, as 1 have been, and you will 
1 have the same reward as I am like to have j and 

* be you followers of Christ, as you have had me 
1 for an example, for I have been true to what the 
' Lord hath committed to my charge.' 

He was released, and taken from all his troubles 
and exercises here below, and received by the Lord 
into his paradise the 23d of the Second month, 
1 7 10, and his body was honourably buried at 
Abingdon. Aged about Seventy-four years. 



CAMUEL RIGHT, of Wellinborough, in 
^ Northamptonshire, a faithful and honest man, 
that the Lord called, qualified, commissionated, and 
sent freely to preach the gospel of life and salvation 
by Jesus Christ, was greatly beloved and very ser- 
viceable in the country where he lived, and adorned 
the doctrine of God our Saviour, by a conversation 



PIETY PROMOTED. 475 

becoming the gospel, and was of a good repute 
amongst his neighbours. Being visited by the Lord 
with bodily weakness, and being at a time somewhat 
better, was below stairs, but after a while he went 
up, and when he was up, his wife asked him if he 
was not spent; he said, 'I feel so much comfort, 

* and so much of the goodness of the Lord, I am 

* come up that thou mayest partake of the same 

* with me;' and she said she in some measure did, 
though under exercise, because of his weakness. 
He said to her often, ( Do not trouble and grieve 

* for me, for the Loid may raise me up still, if he 

* sees it best j if not, be contented and put thy trust 

* in the Lord, he can make hard things easy ', r 
adding, c Is it not better to part from thy husband 
' in this condition, wherein thou art satisfied i% 
'will be well with him, than if not?' his wife 
replied, ( It will be well with thee I am well 

* satisfied, and that is the greatest comfort I have in 

* parting from thee ; but still my loss is the greater, 

* to part with such a good husband, with whom 

* (if the Lord saw good) it might be as well another 

* time, or some years hence : ' he answered, ' It 

* must not be another time, the Lord's time is the 

* best time. — I should be glad to see thee in a mind 
1 to submit to the will of the Lord in all things i 

* for it troubles me to see thee so sorrowful : it will 

* not be thy case alone j although I know it will be 

* hard for thee to bear. I would not have thee cast 
1 thyself down, for then thou wilt not be able 
f to look after me, and I shall like no body so well.' 

Another time some neighbours came to see him, 
with whom was a great professor, they asked him 
how he was *, he answered, he was troubled with 
pain of body, and sick besides ; they replied, he 
had been sick a long time ; he said he never thought 
the time long, nor tedious, he had so much of the 
enjoyment of the presence of the Lord, and felt so 



1>1ETY PROMOTED. 

much comfort, that he never thought the time i 

nor his afflictions tedious, saving) lie was as sensible 

-is in a time of health, and his faith the s;imc as it 

had been \ and his mind was stayed upon the Lord, 

and his life was in his hand. He farther said, 

I not his work to doj declaring largely, Ins 

-•action, how happy he should be in the 

world to come, saying he had a taste and earnest of 

it. Another time, a friend, with several others 

visiting him, he was much concerned to exhort 

friends to love one another, and to strengthen one 

, 'It i; well known what labour of 

, and travel of spirit, I have had amongst you 

. truth.' And expressed the 

' rod to his soul, saying, ' What can 

4 1 de ire more, I am fully satisfied eternal life will 

* he my portion, and the comfort that I feel, out- 

* ballanceg my pain :' and so returned praises to the 
Lord, and waj igned up unto his will; 

:, there was but two things for which he 
could desire to live, and that was, for the sake- of 
his family, and upon the service of truth. Anil' 
then desired his dear wife not to be too much grieved, 
but to be freely resigned to the will of God, saying, 
if she had her eye to the Lord he would bless her. 
And said farther, l The Lord that hath been, and is my' 
4 comfort, will be thy comfort, and that is my 

* consolation, and will be thy consolation, for thou 

* hadst not thy eye to beauty; thou hadst not thy' 

* eye to riches ; but thy choice was for one that' 
' feared the Lord : therefore I do- believe the Lord' 
' had a blessing for thee;' and being concerned for 
his dear wife, he added) ' Seeing the Lord provided' 
a husband for thee, according to thy desire, canst 
not thou say with Job, " The Lord gives,, and the 
*' Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the 
" Lord." Remember what Job said to his wife, 
" Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and 
" shall we not receive evil VI for although the Lord 



-PIETY PROMOTED. 477 

* gave thee a husband according to thy desire, thou 

* art not willing to give him up into his hands ; for 
c it would be better for thee, and easier for me ;' 
she answered, * It is too hard for me to do at 
' present, but the Lord could make hard things 

* easy, if I could put my trust in him.' Then he 
■"* said, ' Remember how it was with Jeptha, who 

* had but one only daughter, and when he had 
>f made a vow, that if -the Lord would give him 

* victory over his enemies, whatsoever came first 
( forth out of his house to meet him, should surely 
s be the Lord's ; and the first that came was his 
'daughter; so he bid her remember the nobility 
~* of the damsel, when her father wept to see her, 
--' she said, " .Father, if thou hast opened thy mouth 
<( unto the Lord, do to me according to that which 
fl proceeded out of thy mouth/' * And she gave 
( up herself, and canst not thou give up me ? ' 

Another time some came to see him, to whom he 
..declared he had great satisfaction to die, saying, 
i I feel the Lord to be with me, and what would 
1 the great men of the earth give, to feel the same 
f peace with God. when they come to lie upon a 
** dying-bed.' He uttered many more sweet ex- 
hortations to his 7 wife and friends, to the tendering 
and affecting of the hearts of those there present ; 
saying, '.If J find myself weaker in body, I should 
' be glad to have friends in general to come and see 
' me, to wait upon God together.' 

Another time he said, ' In all the afflictions as 
' ever I met with, my mind was never so staid as in 
' this, my mind being so much out of the in- 

* cumbering things of this world, that I do believe 
c this affliction will be for my good j * v/ith much 
more. 

Another time he said he did not know but death 
might come of a sudden, hut it would be no 
gurprisal to him j for I am both ready and willing 



t?9 TIETY PROMOTED. 

to die; or If it should please the Lord to restore 
him he could be willing to live, for the sake of his 
family, or that he might be serviceable in the gospel, 
for the promotion of truth; but said, ' I have such 

* satisfaction, and full assurance of my future being, 
1 that ray heart is often overcome with joy;' with 
much more. 

At another time he said, ■ Lord thou visited me 
4 in my youth, when I was hut young in years, and 
1 I was given lip to serve thee; as was stripling 
1 David, when he went to battle against the on- 
Philistine; for he went in the name 
the L He also spake concerning the 

pent, h<>w the wounded was to look 
thereunto; and of Joseph's being a fruitful bough 
] a well, whose brandies run over the wall; 
at him, but the bow of 
Also ]}£ said, 
1 It will be well with me when I am gone to 
ther world; though,' said he, 'I have not 
th very much in my view; 1 have been as 
4 though I was at the brink of the grave, but 
( the Lord hath been pleased to spare me a little 
' longer.' 

Another time, friend^ coming to see him after a 
meeting, one said to him, * Thou hast had a long 
1 time of illness;' he replied, * I do not think the 
' time long, by reason I have felt so much of the 
1 goodness of the Lord unto me :' and he testified, 
saying, ' That according to my strength, great hath 
4 been my labour, and travail in spirit, for the 

* prosperity of Sion, and the welfare of Jerusalem, 
c since I was exercised with affliction ; ' and so 
bowed down, and went to prayer. 

Another time he said unto several friends, f I see 

* the wonders of the Lord in the deep, and what 
1 I now enjoy of the goodness of God, is beyond 
' what I can express^ and the Lord hath been always 



PIETY PROMOTED. 479 

* with me in my afflictions, and is still with me-,* 
with many more sweet expressions, that are not 
noted. 

And one asking him at another time how he did, 
he said, ' I am poorly, but I think I shall not die 

* at present or suddenly, but I have not my work 

* to do.' 

At another time, about an hour before his de- 
parture, being restless as he lay in bed, his mother 
said, * My poor dear child ;' to which he answered, 

* I am rich ;' and so he departed this life, the 29th 
day of the Third month, 1710. 

He was buried in friends' burying-ground, and 
was accompanied thither with many friends and 
others, and divers good testimonies were then borne 
unto the truth. 



/CHRISTOPHER RICHARDSON, late of Bur- 
^-^ ton, in Yorkshire, was born at Caperby, in the 
same county^ of honest parents, and was religiously 
educated. 

In the time of his weakness of body, which 
increased so much upon him, that his recovery was 
somewhat questioned, his wife speaking to him, 
asked him, how it was with him j he answered, 

* It was no light matter to be concerned about our 

* soul's salvation -,' but said, * I feel hopes-to spring/ 
Then taking his wife by the hand, he said, * My 
' dear, thou hast been a loving and obedient wife to 
' me •, I desire thee to keep in patience, the Lord 
1 will be a husband to thee, and he will provide for 

* thee, he did take care for thee before thou hadst a 

* husband. So he that did thus help thee through 

* many troubles and deep exercises, he is the same 
c that ever he was ; he will be strength to thee in 

* time of weakness. It was the Lord's providence 

* that brought us together : and he hath many times 



4So PIETY PROMOTED 

* honoured us with his presence ; but whether we 

* b ' separated now or not, the Lord's will be done, 
' for we have had a comfortable time together, and 
' I desire we may have a comfortable parting, and 

* things may be made easy to thee.' 

Then he spoke to his father, and said, ' This 
1 I have to say to thee, thou hast been dear and 
1 tender over me and much concerned about me, 

* and thy care hath been to bring me up in truth s 

] cd will reward thee for it in another 

* work!.' 

His father replied, ' Child, and this I have to 

1 for thee, thou hast been a dutiful child to me.' 

iid to him again, * Remember my 

duty J to my tender mother, and 

re her to keep in patience.' 

Then to h John, he said, * Keep in the 

L rd, let it be thee, 

•and it will learn thee true wisdom ; ami love the 

Christ, and that winch 

1 inwardly doth cheek and reprove for evil.; hearken 

1 to that inward voice, that tells thee when thou art 

* turning to the right hand, or to the left ; for they 
4 that ichingjj of it, and will have none 

5, a day of desolation will overtake 

* them, before they be aware, and such will be ruined 
' for ever.' Then taking a brother of his by the 
hand, he said, ' Farewell, I do wish thy eternal wel- 
fare, and desire thee to be faithful to what God 

1 hath made known to thee -, for I believe thou know- 
' est enough, give up to the manifestation of the 

* spirit of truth, and bring thy children up in the 
'nurture of it.' The brother answered, 'We can 
' do nothing of ourselves, without God Almighty's 
' assistance ;' his reply was, \ God hath extended a 

* measure of his grace unto every one to profit with- 
' al ; so there will be no pleading of excuse : I desire 
1 thee to have a care of giving way to that which will 



PIETY PROMOTED. 481 

€ draw thy mind away from the Lord, for if thou 

* dost, thou wilt be undone for ever, as sure as I hold 
c thee by the hand.' 

He also declared he was willing to leave the 
world, and all that might be enjoyed m it, if it 
should please the Lord to take him away at that 
time, that he might leave a good savour behind 
him ; signifying the troubles that are here, and the 
peace that is with the Lord, and his satisfaction he 
had ki his own particular. One that was by, said, 

* It is well it is so with thee, I am glad to hear such 

* expressions from thee ; ' he then said to them 
about him, \ There are many when they are brought 
' low in sickness, begin to consider how they have 
i spent their time, and see their lamps untrimmed, 

* and want oil, like the foolish virgins, that is ready 

* to say, Oh! that it would please the Lord to 

* lengthen their days, so as to raise them up again ; 

* then they would be better prepared for their final 
' change.' 

Then he said, c I see a portion in the kingdom of 
t heaven, a place among the sanctified is better than 
€ a thousand worlds : so/ said he, 4 let net the things 

* of this world hinder you ; for the cares of this 
e life, and cumbering things, do but gender to 

* bondage/ 

Then he said, c My dear love. to all my brothers 
f and sisters ; I desire they may be careful to bring 
' up their children in the nurture of truth ;' adding, 
4 Tell my sister Jane from me, that she be not 

* unmindful of her first love ; but that she bow 

* to truth, and stand in the dominion of it, and 
' learn humility, and prize truth above all.* 

He then remembered his love to some particular 
friends ; and added, c My love is to all faithful 

* friends \ after which his wife asked him how it 
was with him 1 he said, ( I am very easy, the 

* Lord's will be done: 5 then he ceased to speak 

Vol. I. X 



4 S2 PIETY PROiMOl I 

any more fur a while, till about three or four hours 
he departed ; and then he said, (though with 
a very low voiee) * Seek Chrisi Jesus out Saviour;' 
these Wfere the last words those present l 
remember, lie was patient in his sickness, and 
freely reined to the will o( the Lord, and con- 
to give advice, '-aid, and 
ire his sense and experience of the 1 

ion by him •, and no doubt is 
red into that which as he declared to his wife 

in the early part of hi , i, better than 

, or holy kingdom 

i '..here hjfi soul will rest in 

for ever. 
lie departed this life the 7th of the Sixth month, 

i 7«6, and was buried the pth at Caperby, in friends' 
buryinc-groHnd, beii ipanied thither with 

many friends and neighbouij. 



■J7LIZABETH IIAYDOCK, daughter of Henry 
•*-* and Martha Haydock, was born at Warrington, 
in Lancashire, the 17th of the Sixth month, 1686, 
her father . died before she was two years old, and 
she was educated amongst the people of God called 
Quakers, by her mother, and was loving and obe- 
dient to her till death, and lived in love and peace 
with her brother and sister, and was very affectionate 
to them, never known to jar or contend with them : 
she was of a kind and courteous behaviour to all, 
by which she gained abundance of love, both with 
great and small. Some time before her death, she 
laboured with her mcther, for her consent, that she 
might go and live with some honest friend, to which 
her mother zt last complied, and she went unto her 
beloved uncle Robert Haydock ; but in a short time, 
being taken ill, returned to her mother, and soon 



PIETY PROMOTED. 483 

sfter she came home, said, ' I fully believe 1 must 

* net recover, and I am content in the will of God.' 
Her sickness continuing, her mother, brother and 
sister were desirous a doctor might be had, which 
was proposed to her, and she said, e To make you 

* easy, I am willing, but I believe he will do me no 
c good, for I must not recover, I believe/ Then 
her mother seeing she grew very weak, asked her 
how things were with her, as to her future state in 
the world to come ; she after some due deliberation 
said, * My dear mother, I am no ways afraid to die, 

* for things are now well, I have a very easy mind 
' upon all accounts, and towards every body ; I find 
i nothing stands in my way but thee, my tender 

* another, I fear it will be hard for thee; but be 

* thou easy, for I am well ; and if I live to old age, 

* I can but be well; I am given up to die, or to 
1 live, as the Lord pleaseth, since I came to thee ; 
1 but before I came, I had a hard time, the enemy 

* would needs have persuaded me, that there was 
'little hope for me, and that I should not find 
' peace, .under which I wept, and laboured, none 

* knowing my sorrow I was in, neither did I make 
'it known to any till now ; but 1 bless God I am 

* now satisfied, and free from any fear, and believe 
4 all will be well, and I shall go to rest; for, dear 
< mother, I see nothing but trouble in the world, 
■ and I do not desire to Jive in it ; we must leave it.* 
And though her weakness continued, and her pain 
was sharp, she was preserved still and quiet, and 
in abundance of patience, and was not heard to. 
murmur in the least ; but said, e Lord afflict me 
1 how thou pleasest, so thou wilt but be pleased to 

* give me patience and an easy passage at last;' 
then she lay still some time, and after said unto her 
mother, (being then under a deep travail of spirit, 
because of her sore affliction) ' Let us pray to the 
-MLord;' soon after her mother kneeled down, and 



484 TIETY PROMOTED. 

prayed unto the Lord for her, and freely resigned 
her up to him, that his will might be done in and 
with her ; after which she was pretty easy in herself, 
and saidj 4 Oh ! dear mother. I once thought I never 
lid have come to that experience I now have ; 
' for I now know a .stay to my mind, and silence to 
' my own thoughts ; 1 am at times quit of all thoughts 
1 of t] of this world.' Her mother being 

ling by her, she said, < Weep not, my tender 

1 mother, ;t is better for me to die, than to live-,* 

t said, < If it be the will of the Lord, 

'Id. oi mine might die of such a lingering 

. n.pcr, as now thou art under, thy pain is. so 
plied* ■ Do not de ire so, for it is 

I for \outh to be quickly .snapped awav, and not 

* have time to remember their tetter end, it hath 
' been good for me.' 

About two weeks" before she died, she took her 
for the most of which time she uttered many 
nressions ; one time her mother 
withdrew from her into another room, yet in her 
hearin_, and heard her say unto the Lord, ■ All might, 
4 power arid glory is with thee ;' and continued pour- 
ing forth her spirit unto God, saying, \ Lord, I am 

< ready •, oh ! tarry not sweet Lord : oil ! deliverance, 
'deliverance, I cry to thee for: oh! God,, deliver 

* my soul, I feel nothing to hinder; but, oh ! Lord, 

* if any thing be in my way, remove it, oh ! my 

< God/ After said to her mother, l I fear thou 
' holds me, oh ! do not so ; neither weep for me, 
' for my tears are dried up ; I feel no cause for any ; 

* neither mourn for me, for I shall go to rest : I had 

* rather be with Almighty God, than enjoy ail this 

* world, it is nothing to me/ 

At another time, when her mother and relations 
thought her near going, recovering a little strength, 
she kissed her mother, father, brother, and sisters, 
and said, ' Lord Jesus, receive my spirit : — I am 



PIETY PROMOTED. 485 

€ ready, tarry not, but deliver me out of my pair* ,' 
her mother said, c The Lord is supplicated for thee , 

* and thy deliverance draws near, I do believe, arid 

* thy time will not be long*, my spirit is earnest 

* with thine, that he may ease thee ; but it is the 
! Lord, he must do what he pleaseth ; breathe thou 
' to him, my dear child, for patience/ She replied, 
c Poor Job had it, and the Lord hath given it me all 

* along, and I hope he will give it me still.' \ Then 
she desired that her ever dear friend, Benjamin 
Bangs, might be sent for ; and he was, and came ; 
and after he had been some time with her, she fixed 
heir eyes upon him stedfastly, and said, c My pain 
s is very great, pray thou to the Lord for me ; ' and 
was very still a while, in which time the spirit o£ 
prayer from God came upon him, and he prayed 
both powerfully, and with much fervency of spirit 
to the Almighty for her, that it might please him 
to ease her of her pain : and the Lord was intreated 
for her, and in a little time her pain was wholly 
taken away, and she said-, * I bless the Lord, I am 

* easy, both in body and mind ': — I have nothing to 
' do, but wait the Lord's time ;' and that night had 
some rest, and lay very still, and free from pain ; 
and in the night said to her mother, * My dear love 

* is with thee, I love thee above all the world •, and 

* my love to all ray dear relations, I shall see them 
'no more, and to my weak aunt at Penkith, who 

* was kind to me when I was there.' Next day she . 
said to her mother, with a cheerful countenance, 

' Dear mother, I have now done, four or twelve of 
6 the clock, I think I shall not pass that time; be 

* thou easy and content, or else thy time will be but 
€ short, there is nothing in all this world hath been 

* so dear to me 'as thee , but I hope thou canst not 

* desire my stay.' Her mother asked her if she 
' was sensible of her coldness; she replied, * Yea, 
( and of my sweating too, and if it is death's sweat 

X 3 



PIETI 1ROM0TEI7. 

let it be so to thec, dear 

my Saviour, I can 

NT16, it is welcome, 

imes heard thee, ami 

. ■ 

in no 

. . hen dead ; I am part 

d must be buri ight : the 

j it all';' and 

.i i unb ii . '■ , *'.. ' •'.. of the 

>uried the 13th of the 

th m.iny friends 

Aged rwenty-foui anting, eight 

« i • 



JOHN BANK m in the year 163", in 

* Sunderland, in the parish of Issell, in the county 

I, of honest parents, his father a fell- • 
mongi iker,. At Sixteen years of age 

; and pure >pirit of God, 
and revelation thereof, ~in and through the Lord 
his heart, brought to the knowledge 
of G '. and the way of Lis blessed truth, before 
ever I any one called Quaker preach ; and 

directed to go to the meeting of the 
said people, it being shown him, and signified to 
him thev were the Lord's people : so lie went the 
next First-day to a meeting of the aforesaid people 
at Pardshaw, where very few words were spoken ; 
but a paper was therein read, which was suitable to 
his condition; and through waiting diligently in the 
•light of Christ, and keeping to the power of 
God, he came to experience the work thereof, and 
freedom from bondage, through faithfulness unto the 
Lord . 

In the vear 1663, he being qualified by the Lord, 



piety promoted: 48 7 

Was drawn in his spirit to visit some neighbouring 
counties, and laboured in the work of the ministry. 

And in the year 1668, he being farther grown in 
the truth, was made willing to forsake all, to answer 
the Lord's requirings, and he travelled into the 
south and west of England in the Lord's service, 
and after that from year to year he laboured zealously 
to preach the gospel of peace, not only in England, 
but Scotland and Ireland ; he crossed the sea twelve 
times, and often with great difficulty, and danger 
of life by sea, (in great tempests and storms) and 
robbers on land. And was made instrumental to 
turn many (by his zealous labours in the gospel of 
God) to righteousness, who remain witnesses of the 
same, and seals of his ministry. He had much 
suffering by loss of goods, imprisonment and hard- 
ships therein ; which he was enabled to go through - 9 
for the Lord was with him, and supported him, 
and blessed his labours ; so that many, both men 
and women, were convinced and confirmed in the 
truth by him, and became faithful and able mi- 
nisters, and so continued until death., and others yet 
remain. 

In the year 1696 he married his second wife at 
Glastonbury, in Somersetshire, settled at Mear, till 
about two years before his death he removed unto 
Street, in the said county. 

He likewise was concerned, in the love of God, 
a month or two before his death, notwithstanding 
his age and weakness, to visit friends at divers of 
their meetings, and had comfortable seasons with 
them, both at their meetings of public worship, and 
their monthly meetings, held for to take care of the 
poor and fatherless children and widows ; for he 
was zealous for good order and Christian discipline 
in the church, and that those things that were 
honest, just, pure, and of good report, and that 
had any praise in them, should be followed. And 
X 4 



488 TIETY PROMOTED, 

it was admirable to those that knew him, 

ie weak condition he was in, how (in his last 

Somerton) he was in the meeting, which 

enabled to preach near an hour and 

a sound testimony to truth, and 

t outside*shews, that wanted substance, with 

of mind, and with good distinction 

in hi., j The which gave demonstration, not 

•ngth of his memory, quick under- 

tag, but sound judgment in things spiritual. 

And hi ing was comfortable, refreshing, and 

rig to the meeting; and he earnestly pressed 

friends to be faithful to the little and small ap- 

t truth, encouraging such as were weak 

; on whom Amaleck chooseth to vent his malice) 

to a ) 

liut alter .meeting it was sufheient task for two 

men to lead him to his quarters •, though he was 

fulj and signified his great satisfaction in 

and travail, arid next went to friends 

ing at Puddymore, and after to a meeting at 

Yeowell, where many friends were, and in his 

public service there, he was very lively and quick 

in discerning the states of several there, and after 

returned home, where in the Seventh month, 1710, 

he was taken with great pain in his back ; yet he 

often said, * Though my pain is great, my soul doth 

4 magnify the Lord for his goodness towards me;' 

adding, * He hath provided a good place for me in 

* heaven.' 

And on the 226. of the Seventh month, 17 10, 
several friends being present, after some time of 
waiting in silence upon the Lord^ he said these 
words, or to this effect : 

' Dear friends, I counsel you in the love and fear 
' of God, to keep your meetings for the worship 
' and service of God, both First-days and week- 
' days, (mind that) and also monthly and quarterly 



PIETY PROMOTED. 489 

* meetings, which were set up by the power of 

* God, to keep things in good order amongst us.' 
Farther he said, s My love hath been so great to 

* friends at Glastonbury and Street, that I have 
' ventured my life in riding through deep waters to 

* visit them, when I have had a concern from God 
6 upon my mind : so that you can say, I have been 

* a good example to you in keeping to meetings, as 
i well as in other things.' 

Then he said, ' Although I am weak m body, 

* and do not know whether I may live much longer 
' or not, (yet I do not see death at present) however 
( I am strong in the Lord, and in the power of his 
' might, and have nothing to do but to die, for 
1 I am rich m faith and good works towards God, 
4 " and my cup is full of the love of God; whether 

* I live or die, it will be well with my soul ; for, 
c blessed be the Lord, I can say with the wise and 

* holy Apostle Paul, that I have fought a £cod ti^ht, 
' I have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up 
i for me a crown of righteousness, (and did the 

* Apostle say for himself only ? no, he was wiser 

* than so) but to all them that love his appearing.' 

Some friends of Somerton taking their leave of 
him, he said to them, i Give mj dear love to 
( friends at Somerton, and tell them, that my soul 
' is alive unto God/ And to a youiig man with 
them of that place, (lately convinced) dear John 
Banks said, c Art thou the young man that lives at 
4 Somerton lately convinced of the blessed truth?' 
he answeaed, Yes. ; The Lord' (said John Banks) 
' be with thee, and I desire thee, hi his- love, to 
£ give up in obedience to the working of the spirit 
1 of God in thy heart, and then he will do great 

* and glorious things for thee, and do not thou 
c stumble at the cross m 3 for the more thou looks at 

* it, and puts it off, the harder it will be for thee to 

* take it up.' 



490 PIETY PROMOTED. 

mother friend, when he took him by the I 

at pai iid, ■ My dear love to thee, ami all 

it arc faithful unto God.' 
To another that bid him farewell, he • 

* I do hire well in the Lord, my love is to thee, and 

* all the faithful in Christ;' adding, * Joseph is yet 

, and that is enough.' Then he earnestly 
I friends to keep in the unity cf the spirit, 
which is the bond of p 

A great deal more g e, in the living and 

eternal power of the great eternal God that attended 
him, iie gave, which is not noted; but at the de- 
livery thereof, the hearts of many were tendered, 
and tear., ran down from their ■ 

( );i the 24th of the Seventh month, a friend 
visiting him, asked him how it was with him, he 
ered, * Very sick, and full of pain in my feet 
1 and legs, thighs and bow els ; but the Lord helps 
1 me, else I should cry out aloud; truth helps me, 
{ and ever hath since I believed in it.' 

And the day he died, being the 6th of the Eighth 
month, 171c, and sixth day of the week, he said 
to a friend, * It io well with me, and I have 
4 nothing to do but to die,' and said, ' I shall end 

* in truth as I began.' So hail an easy passage 
hence, after all his labours, sufferings, and travels, 
is entered into rest, and there is no doubt of his 
portion in the everlasting kingdom of eternal glory 
for ever, to sound forrh praises and hallelujahs 
unto the Lord God, and the Lamb that sits upon 
the throne, who is worthy. 

He was honourably buried in friends burying- 
ground at Street, in Somersetshire, the 12th of the 
Eighth month, 1710. 

Aged Seventy-three, convinced fifty-seven, and a 
minister forty-seven years. 

THE END OF THE FOURTH FART. 



PIETY PROMOTED, 

IN A 

COLLECTION OF DYING SAYINGS 

OF MANY OF THE PEOPLE CALLED 

QUAKERS. 

WITH. 

SOME MEMORIALS OF THEIR 
VIRTUOUS LIVES. 

THE FIPTH PART. 

A NEW EDITION. 

< 

By JOHN FEILD. 



" Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of h. : « 
" saints," Psal. cxvi. 15. 

" And — it is appointed unto men once to die, but after 
** this the judgment." Heb. ix. 27. 



LONDON : 

FRINTED AND SOLD BY WILLIAM PHILLIPS) 
6E0KC£ YARD, LOMBARD 8TREIT, 

1812, 



THE PREFACE TO THE READER, 



IESUS CHRIST being both the author andfbun- 
" dation of the Christian Religion, they who believe 
in him, and build upon him as their foundation and 
rock, lay the foundation of the building so sure, that 
as they abide thereon, neither the winds nor rains 
are able to overturn it j for it stands all tempests. 

It was upon this, that the patriarchs, prophets, 
and apostles were founded. And as he was their 
rock, so he was to all the people of the Lord, 
throughout their generations ; and another founda- 
tion can no man lay, than that which is already- 
laid. It is here we may assure ourselves to be safe, 
respecting our salvation. And as we acknowledge 
no other bottom for our religion, neither do we look 
to have salvation any other way, than by Jesus 
Christ our Lord,, who gave himself a ransom for all. 
It hath been by faith in him, and through the work 
of his grace in our hearts, that many in our day, 
as in ages past, have had their salvation sealed unto 
them, that when their death-bed sickness has come, 
they have had cause of rejoicing, that through faith 
they had witness that they had pleased God j by 
whose power they were enabled to work out their 
salvation with fear and trembling. 

And as they knew it had been the Lord who had 
prepared them for his kingdom, they have given him 
the glory, as was their duty j for, saith the Psalmist, 
I* All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord, and thy 



494 THE PREFACE. 

nt9 shall bless thee-: they >eak of the 

: thy kingdom, and talk of thy power, to 

men his might] 
glorious majesty of his kingdom." 
Thus have many pious souls entertained their rc- 
, 1 may be properly 

called, the triumphs - - of salvation. Phis 
hath much abated the sorrow of their afflicted kin- 
am', hath made some chuse to be in the houses 
of mourning, b arts have been 

come, in a sense of that presence and power of God, 
which hat! occasions. And here 

the faith oi the livinj ngthened by the 

. > speak oi their own cx- 
d upon their souls. 
By ill | that though these, whilst 

men, might be accounted by 
life ; yet it is certain 
thev v - path that I tern a i happiness, 

and tl country, to wit, 

. ; and therefore God, even their God, 
prepared t 
It v.. the as f this in old time, 

h made tl. for truth upon earth, and 

emboli bes and per- 

secutions, which often befel them on the account of 
their testimony ; concerning some of whom it is 
said, ' They accepted not of deliverance, that they 

* might obtain a better resurrection. And others 
' had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings ; yea, 
' moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were 

* stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, 

* were slain with the sword j they wandered about in 
' sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, 

* tormented ; of whom the world was not worthy.' 

Had not these had regard to the recompense of an 
eternal reward, what eire could have obliged them 
to undergo such cruelties, not only to the loss of 



THE PREFACE. 



499 



life, but also were deprived of the comforts, which 
they otherwise might have shared amongst men, in 
tilings pertaining to this world ; nay, it was the cer- 
tain hope they had of heaven and eternal life, which 
made them triumph over the exquisite tortures of 
their persecutors. 

This plainly shews, that they suffered not out of 
an obstinate humour, as by some might be suggested •, 
but because they would not sacrifice the cause of 
their God, therefore they were sacrificed. And 
when the apostle had recited a few of the many 
instances which had been,, he assures us, that all 
these had obtained a good report through faith. 

It was in this faith that Isaac blessed Jacob and 
Esau, concerning things to come. And Jacob, when 
he was dying, in the remembrance of the Lord'* 
appearance to him at Luz, and of the great promises 
God made him there, that he blessed the two sons 
of Joseph. 

It was in this faith that he blessed his own sons, 
his heart being opened in a prophetic manner, he 
spoke to them severally, and predicted what in after 
times should happen to their tribes. 

It was when this prophetic spirit was upon him, 
that he spoke of the coming of the Messiah, calling 
him Shiloh. 

The dying sayings of this good old man are a 
monument of the continued and especial favour of 
the Lord to him : for ought that appears, he had a 
sight of that at his death, of which he had till then 
been silent all his life* It was at this time that he 
acknowledged, that, e The Lord had fed him all his 
* life long, and the angel had redeemed him from all 
c evil/ It was in the sense of this that he opened 
his mouth, and blessed his children. 

And as for Moses, the servant of the Lord, who 
was faithful in all God's house, he was a man which 






496 THE PREFACE. 

neither the preferment of the Egyptian court, nor 
the probability of wearing the crown, could hinder 

from either defending his brethren, or t 

hare in their affliction. And this was not a 

r an over-forward choice in him, but 

from a serious consideration* as seeing 

i for we are expressly told, that 

old, it came into his 

children of Israel.' 

This visit of his to the Hebrews had stsch a con- 

. that he, who the other day was a prince, 

left hi come 

I in the land of Midian. 

And it was at this employ the Lord appeared unto 

him in a bush, Which burned and was not consumed, 

atid tbld him the end of his appearance) and the 

ich lie should n< w undertake for the de- 

of the children of Israel. After which 

ranee they became a nation, and were a great 

e, to whom the Lord gave laws and ordinances, 

and gave them a them. 

1 concei xpected, that a 

I to that people 
should be given here, only let it be observed, that 
they were obliged to continue in those commands 
to do them. 

And amongst the many things Israel were expressly 
forbid to do, there are some which in this place, 
and on this occasion, I think proper to mention, 
** Lev. xix. 28. Ye shall not make any cuttings in 
u your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon 
" you. I am the Lord." 

We are informed by history, that such practices 
were in u>e among the Heathens in their funeral 
rites, and lest Israel should follow these idolatrous 
customs, Moses gave them a strict charge not to do 
them, (Lev. xix. 28. and Deut. xiv. 1.) 



THE PREFACE. 497 

Thus we see the care of the Lord over his chosen 
people,, in prohibiting these, among other things, 
that they might be holy to the Lord their God. 

But from whence arose that fashion of v/earing 
mourning habits, whether at first among the Jews 
or Gentiles, I know not ; but this I am assured of, 
that when Moses, the servant of the Lord, died, 
though there was very great mourning, we do not 
find that they altered their habit j but that their sor- 
row was expressed by their weeping and lamenting 
the loss of so great a prophet of the Lord. From 
whence I infer, 

That whatever surprize or sorrow might seize the 
minds of the living for their dead, it was to be con- 
tained within, and no marks or tokens of it to be 
worn without. 

This seems agreeable to that practice which the 
spirit of truth led our forefathers into, when they 
were called out of the world's ways and vain fash- 
ions j of which this of wearing mourning cloaths, 
was one which they complied not with, as knowing, 
that that divine principle the Lord had placed in 
them, required a conformity to his will in all things, 
a thorough reformation of, and disuse of all vain 
customs, since they were not to fashion themselves 
according to their former lusts in their ignorance,, 
&c. as said the apostle Peter. 

May these things, which were of old prohibited 
the people of the Lord, be remembered in these 
days, that none of us do any thing on such occasions, 
as may be in any sense rendered printing maiks 
upon us, or rather disguising ourselves for the dead. 

Now, because that some among us have, and are 
creeping into a sort of mourning habit, (a thing 
contrary to our ancient practice) I am at this time 
Concerned to testify against it •, for whatever was the 
practice of other people in this respect, when our 
forefathers in truth came forth, we find they were 



498 tHt PREFACE. 

out of it, and walked in their plain simple wav, 
without mixing with the ways of the world ; not 
but they might be accounted singular, for avoiding 
the modes of their neighbours ; yet it is recorded, 
that no such practice, as that called wearing of 
mourning, was amongst us in the year 1694) as in 
Rise and Progress, page f6, viz. ' Neither do tl\Q 
4 kindred of the deceased ever wear mourning; they 
1 looking upon it as a worldly ceremony and piece of 
i pomp; and that what mourning is fit for a Chris- 

* tian to hive at the departure ( -1" a beloved relation 

* or friend, should be worn in the mind, which is 
' only sensible of the toss. 1 

I cannot inform the reader when this practice 
first began, and am also ignorant by whom it was at 
first introduced into our society *, but this I may say, 
it is not agreeable to that self-denying principle we 
;S, neither is there the least shadow of pre- 
cedent for it in the New Testament. And therefore, 
according to the words oi the apostle Peter in ano* 
ther case, * Let the time past suffice, wherein ye 
1 have wrought the will of the Gentiles/ I say, let 
us cast off, concerning the former conversation, the 
old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful 
lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. 

Though I speak thus as to this particular, none, 
I hope, will count me as an enemy, for I deliver it 
as a brotherly caution ; and the rather, because I 
apprehend it to be a spreading evil amongst many, 
for mine eye hath affected my heart in this matter, 
as well as in some other things, as pride, and an 
undue liberty that some take ; which, as well as the 
other, are a reproach to our society. 

All these things have repeatedly been testified 
against, not only by some single persons, but in a 
more general way. 

I am at this present, writing under a Christiaa 
concern for the church of our God. That she may 



THE PREFACE. 49f 

be holy in all things relating to life and godliness, 
that no spot or wrinkle may be upon her-: for so it 
behoveth the people of Christ to be ; and they who 
really are his, have crucified the flesh, with the 
affections and lusts. 

If it be asked, how have these attained to this 
good state ? it may truly be answered, through faith 
in Jesus Christ. For as they came to believe in him, 
they saw it was absolutely needful for them to obey' 
the discoveries of his light in their hearts ; and by 
being faithful unto that, they came to a sense of 
their sins. This sense begat a godly sorrow, and 
this sorrow wrought them into repentance never to 
be repented of. 

These were the steps they trod in the way of 
their conversion ; this was a time when they sowed 
in tears 5 they wept, they mourned, and made sup- 
plication to the Lord, that he would remember 
mercy in the midst of judgment. Oh ! then the 
everlasting arms were underneath, by which they 
were borne .up, that they sunk not in the floods of 
their spiritual afflictions 5 for, though the Lord had 
laid his hand upon them, by which they were brought 
very low ; yet he who had thus slain them, that they 
might know sin slain, was pleased again to revive 
and make them alive. 

And as thus sin and the evil conversation came to 
be mortified through the spirit, the new life sprang 
up from that heavenly seed God had placed in them \ 
many of whom, after they had known the terrors 
of the Lord in themselves, by which they were 
warned, were constrained in the love of God to warn 
others to flee from the wrath to come, and no longer 
to content themselves with the thoughts, that as they 
are in the outward profession of Jesus Christ, there- 
fore that would save them ; for they must also know 
and experience, as they had done, the work of 
Christ within them, to prepare them tu bring forth 



5co THE PREFACE. 

fruits meet for repentance, as the only way of their 
ersJOB and salvation. 

:e, and clave unto this 

doctrine, which had prov. . ctual 10 many; 

thers have . not unlike the Epicurean 

and S:oic philosophers, who encountered the apostle 

Paul, because lie preached unto them Jesus ami the 

y have slighted the 

salvation, and evilly intreated those who 

. tidings of grace, peace and pardon 

Therefore, since the testimonies of the living have 
not had place in the hearts of some, may the words 
of the what the other have not. And 

if suti }, as several of the 

children of the Lord have given, of the assurances 
they have had of their salvation in their last hours 
of lil arguments and persuasions strong 

enough to provoke the living to a timely preparation 
for their !;. I know of none that will; since 

a certain sense of their states at that 
important moment, which how soon any of us may 
hid from our eyes. And since 
we are assured, that God hath appointed a clay, 
wherein he will judge the world in righteousness, 
may mens fruits be unto hoiiness, that their end may 
be everlasting life ; as it is not doubted is the portion 
of these in the following treatise. 

Should the way and call to repentance and con- 
version be wholly neglected by any in this short 
space of life, which should be spent to the glory of 
God alone, in obeying his righteous laws, how 
dreadful are the states of those ! There is no re- 
trieving time in the grave, they fall into the gulph of 
misery ; and in this condition they have no inteiv 
course with us, nor have we any intelligence or 
warning from them, The ardent request of the 
rich man, in the parable of sending one from the 



THE PREFACE. S oi 

dead to warn his brethren, lest they should come , 
into the place of torment with him, was refused 
him for this reason, that seeing they had Moses and 
the prophets, if they would not hear them, neither 
would they, if one should rise fro^n the dead. Also 
by this may be learned, that men are not to expect 
miracles, when other sufficient means are afforded. 
And therefore, seeing that in these latter days, 

.the Lord, who in times past spoke unto the fathers 
by the prophets, doth speak unto us by his Son, 

. whom he hath raised from the dead, and sent by his 
grace to us ; let -all thereby be turned away from 
their iniquities, and serve the Lord in reverence and 
fear 5 which they do, who have received that dis- 
pensation or kingdom that cannot be moved, and are 
resolved so to walk, passing their sojourning here in 
fear, counting the price great which was offered for 
their redemption. And as through faith they have 
laid hold on Jesus Christ the Lord, they are per- 
suaded that nothing shall be able to separate them 
-from the love of God which they have in him. And 
as men are guided with the counsel of the Lord, 
in their pilgrimage on earth, to order themselves to 
-His honour j such, when they go hence, will be re- 
ceived unto glory. 

Now, since it is hither the grace of God hath led 
many, let none be so unwise for themselves, as either 

■ not to receive it, or afterwards to turn from it ; for 
it was through the operation of this grace, that many 
of old were saved from the evils of this present 
world j as thanks be to God through Jesus Christ,, 
not a few in our day have attained to the like ex- 
perience, as they came to repentance towards God, 
and faith in our -Lord Jesus Christ; for it is he who 
washes his servants from their sins, and saves them 
with an eternal salvation. Blessed therefore are 
they who are sincerely concerned to know the new 



501 THE PREFACE. 

birth, which 16 to be borne from above, ilia' 

inherit the kingdom of heaven. But, alas I 

h heaven be desired by many, how few of the 

of men are willing to walk in the way that leads 

unto it: No, n&« they are for an easy path, in 

which they may five unto themselves ; they like not 

, though they would have the crown. Oh ! 

(pending their time in vanity ! Some 

in a voluptu us course of life, feeding themselves 

Ut fear; others take excessive pains in attiring 

bodies with their changeable suits of apparel, 

to the i ir of the Lord ; nay, to such a pitch 

of excess are : , thai as one saith, in a 

of this >ubject, relating to superfluity of 

ng, ' 11 . ■ is the end,' saii.h he, 4 of all their 

. 10 gratify the lust of the 

, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life : 

iths, that were given to cover shame, now want 

ng for their shameful excess; and that 

* which should remember men of lost innocency, 

* they pride and glory in.' No Cross, No Crown, 
page 260. 

1 et, although it be thus witli many of the 
children of men, that they spend much treasure and 
time in decking these hou-es of clay, &c. let them 
know, that for all these things they must be brought 
into judgment. 

Time here would fail me, to treat particularly 
concerning the extravagancies, in manifold respects, 
into which some are fallen, to their own hurt and 
grief of many. But I cannot here forget, that 
there is forgiveness with the Lord that he may be 
feared. And he calls to the backsliding children, 
to return unto him, that he may heal them. 

This I write, that all to whom my caution is of 
need, may hasten to the Lord in humiliation and 
contrition, and he will yet help them to redeem the 



THE PREFACE. 503 

time ; which, that they may, wisheth and prayeth 
their friend, who is concerned for the sake of Zion, 
ihat her wilderness may become like Eden, and her 
desert like the garden of the Lord •, that joy and 
gladness may more and more be found in her, 
•thanksgiving and the voice of melody. 

The Tenth month, 1716. 

T. RAYLTON. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 



w 



THE FIFTH PART. 



JUA IAM MUGGINS, of London, was con- 
vinced of the blessed truth about the year 
1 761, the manner whereof was as iolioweth : 

uented the Presbyterian meetings before, 

boat that time dissenters were persecuted, and 

the informers and officers came to their meeting 

Their preacher slipt away by a pri- 

door •, and he, as well as other hearers, made 

his way to escape. 

Then it came in his mind to go and see how it 

fared with the Quakers ; so -he went to their meeting 

in Gracechurch-street, and got as much out of sight 

could, for fear of being seen. There William 

j ailey was declaring, and after a little time came a 

mob and informers, with a band of soldiers. These 

rushed into the meeting, and he expected the preacher 

to slip away, as the other had done ; but to his great 

surprize, went on preaching, till they had hauled 

him away into the yard, and had him to their 

guard. 

After they had carried him away, another friend 
stood up and preached *, and they returning, took 
him away also. And at this time it opened in his 
mind, that it was the truth they declared, and that 
they knew that that was worth suffering for. And 



PIETY PROMOTED. 505 

between that time, and the year 1685, he met with 
great sufferings and loss of goods, for his peaceable 
frequenting meetings to worship the Lord j and was 
twice a prisoner, in the Counter and in Newgate, 
many months at a time y and by reason of his strait 
confinement in prisons, he was much impaired in 
his health, grew weakly and sickened. And although 
his pains were great, yet, as he said, his eye was to 
the Lord ; and often declared, that the Lord had 
been good to him, from his youth unto that day ; 
and praised him, that he was pleased to reveal the 
knowledge of his Son, our Lord and Saviour, unto 
him ^ and that through the assistance thereof, he 
was directed to do unto all mankind, as he would 
have others do unto him. 

He advised all that thev be faithful to the Lord ; 
.and though they had received but little, yet in the 
good improvement thereof, he would give them 
more talents. And above all things, cautioned, to- 
keep above, and out of the incumbrances of this 
world ; and that we assist the poor and needy, and 
administer of our abundance in this world, to help 
them in their necessity.; and in whatsoever condition 
the Lord is pleased to suffer to .come on us, we ought 
to be content •, and, as he said, he had been an 
experiencer of, both in and out of prison, in sick- 
ness and in health. And he witnessed that saying 
of the prophet Isaiah, : c. xxvi.-yer. 3, 4, fulfilled, 
" Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind 
f* is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. 
<( Trust ye in the Lord for ever : for in the Lord 
te Jehovah is everlasting strength." And that if -at 
any time we should be in distress, either inward or 
outward, if our dependance and eye were to the 
Lord, and with an upright heart patiently wait on 
him, he in his own due time will work .deliverance, 
as he said, I have experienced many a .time. 

This was it that rejoiced his heart, and made him 

Vol. I. Y 



5*5 PIETY PROMOTED. 

both willing and ready to suffer whatever the Lord 
Saw meet for him. And though weakness of body 
increased, he felt the spirit of the Lord to lift up 
his standard, to which he retired, and was strength- 
ened in his inward man. And a little before he 
departed, he sounded forth a pleasant harmony, 
which made all the room admire. He after some 
time said, * Lift me up,' and then he uttered many 
heavenly expressions, concerning his assurance of 
rest and peace with the Lord ; for he said, in this 
last agony death hath been hard, and done Ins worst, 
and that he then felt the living power of the Lord, 
which was above death, and praised the Lord he 
had gotten the victory, saying, 4 It is recorded in 
' the scripture, some mens sins go beforehand to 
;ment, and some follow after ; but through the 
■ great mercy of Cod, 1 have witnessed mine to- go 
1 before, and have nothing to do but to die.' 

He advised all to keep to meetings, and watch over 
their words and actions, and have their dependance 
and reliance ott God, and they should find him a 
present help in the time oi' need. 

Then he called all in the room' by their names, 
and desired that the Lord might direct them, and 
keep them all in faithfulness to him ; and that they 
might experience that scripture fulfilled, " It is shewn 
u unto thee, O man, what is good, and what the 
<c Lord recuireth cf thee, to do justly, love mercy, 
Cf and walk humbly with the Lord thy God; and to 
u visit the fatherless in their afflictions, and to keep 
u unspotted from the world.' 

He was kept in his senses to the very last, and 
af:er he had spoke much, he was faint, and called 
for something to takp ; and bidding all present fare- 
well, he laid down his head on his .pillow, and in 
about an hour after departed this life in much still- 
ness, the 27th of the Fifth month, 1688, in the 
Sixtieth year of his age. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 507 

T7LIZABETH, wife of WILLIAM MARKES, of 
-*- i North-Crowley, in Buckinghamshire, was taken ili 
with a fever about the nth of the Seventh month, 
1703, with great pain, which she bore with much 
patience : which was a virtue she was endued with 
from her childhood. In the time of her health she 
often desired, that the Lord would be pleased to 
give her a little time of retirement before her death. 

She took notice in her weakness of her petition 
being granted, and gave praises to the Lord for his 
gentle visitations and fatherly care over her. 

One of her servants standing by, who was helpful 
to her in her weakness, she took by the hand, and 
in great zeal said unto her, ' Ah, poor lass ! in thy 
c health and strength remember this day *,' meaning 
the day of her death. She also desired her burial 
should be plain, and no superfluity on her coffin. 

She would have her family called into her cham- 
ber several times during her weakness, and prayed 
very fervent. 

A few days before her departure, being very weak 
in body, she desired to be set up in her bed, and 
the Lord opened her mouth in praises to himself, 
saying, * God is good to Israel, and to all that are 

* of an upright heart : Oh ! praises, praises, ever- 

* lasting praises, and hallelujah be given to Israel's 
c God, for he is worthy of praises. Oh, Lord ! I 

* pray, if it be thy blessed will, preserve my tender 

* offspring, that they may be a succeeding generation 

* to serve thee and thy blessed truth. And if it be 
' thy blessed will to raise me from this sick bed, I 

* shall be content ; but not my will, but thy holy 
' will be done, I freely submit unto thee/ 

She often lifted up her dying hands with- inward 
hymns of praises, when her strength failed to utter 
words : so laid down her head in peace with the 
Lord, the 29th of the Seventh month, 1703. 
Y 2 



5oS PIETY PROMOTED. 

BARBARA BEVAN, daughter of John Bevan, 
-*- of Trevrygg, in Wales, was an honest, sober, 
virtuous young woman, zealous for the holy name 
and truth of God, and greatly desired and travelled 
for the exaltation and spreading thereof, labouring 
that all might come to love and live therein, and 
order their lives and conversations by it, which she 
crime to know and experience in her own heart, by 
the divine power of God : for though she was before 
soberly educated by her parents, and when she was 
but six years of age, diligently kept to friends meet- 

ind was dutiful to her parents, loving to her 
relations and neighbours, and for her orderly be- 
haviour in meetings, well beloved by the faithful 
that were acquainted with her; yet as she grew up, 
the enemy laboured very often to <lraw her mind to 

ht in vain objects, and at times prevailed, to 

reat grief and exercise of mind ; but after ic 

; the 1' rd to visit her with sickness of body, 

when about sixteen years of age, and to shew her 

and condition unto her, and let her see, as she 
Afterwards declared, that the form of truth, and the 
profession of it only, would not satisfy without pos- 
session ; and that she had great need of a Saviour ; 
ind that the pleasures and delights here below, were 
but as dross and dung, in comparison of God's sal- 
ation and life-giving presence.; and that there was 
but one way to obtain it, and that is, as she said 
by giving up in obedience to the Lord, that he 
.might work and operate in her heart, who had many 
times begat desires and breathings in her soul after 
him . 

So she came to receive a dispensation of the gos- 
pel about the Sixteenth year of her age, and she 
travelled in the work of the ministry, and was con- 
cerned to visit friends in West Jersey, and some 
parts of East Jersey, and her service she .zealously 



FIETY PROMOTED. 509 

performed, being concerned for the honour of God, 
and her labour was acceptable, and well received. 

She after returned with her father into Wales - 9 
and though she was weak in body, in the year 1704*. 
she travelled in North and South Wales, about 
six. hundred mile-;, and her service and labour of 
love was well received and effectual to many. 

She was sound in doctrine, and the savour of life 
attended her declaration, and she was a good pattern 
and example in her conversation amongst those she 
conversed with *, and at monthly-meetings she ex- 
horted friends to be faithful in their testimony 
against tithes, and to keep clear of the world's 
spirit, and fashions thereof. 

After she sickened, she had some meetings in the 
family where she was, and earnestly exhorted to be- 
ware of an easy state and lukewarm condition ; and 
admonished to wait often upon the Lord, that they 
might get something in store against a trying time. 

She was sensible her time here was not to be long, 
and declared she was not afraid to die. And seeing 
some of her relations weep, she said, ( Why weep 

* ye on such an occasion ? ' The day before she de- 
parted she spoke ia like manner to her father, 
mother and relations then about her, 'I love you all, 

* and have a love to the family.' 

She had an easy passage, and departed this life 
the Seventh day in the evening, being the 26th of 
the Eleventh month, 1705; and on the 28th of the 
same month, her body was accompanied by relations, 
friends and neighbours, to the meeting-house at 
/Trevrygg, where there was a good meeting, to the 
satisfaction and comfort of many then gathered, and 
after meeting she was buried. 

Aged about Twenty-three years 5 a minister about 
seven , 



5 io PIETY PROMOTED. 

Yy ILI.IAM KIRTON, son of Richard and Sarah 

Kirton, of West Town, in the parish of 

Kensington, near London, Middlesex, aged about 

twenty-two years, was carefully educated by his 

parent, in the Christian religion, and holy profession 

fhereof. lie was from a child du.iful to his parents, 

: nd tenderly affectionate to them, and to his brothers 

i-ters. And being well inclined when he went 

hooi, gave his brothers and school-fellows good 

, and was exemplary in his solid, sedate and 

deportment, which was also tempered with 

much sweetness, that he was well beloved, both at 

- and in the family at home ^ and as he grew 

rs, he grew in grace. 

lie was afflicted before his sickness with much 

, which he bore with abundance of patience; 

.,:id i:i 1 lis sickness he would often say, * It is a hard 

* rough v/ay that I tread, the Lord support me, and 
' keep me, that I may not tread, nor step aside, but 
i be [reserved to the end;' and often said, * Oh ! 
4 when shall I go to rest, on the other side, or 

* beyond all pains and troubles ? but, Lord, let it be 

* thy time, and be pleased to give me patience.* 

Afterwards he said, ' I am, bound for heaven, I 
1 am for eternity.' 

Again, his brothers and sisters standing by, he 
said to them, ' I beg of you, be dutiful to our dear 

* parents •, you cannot do too much for them. If 

* I were to live, I should think it my duty to serve 
'them. And to thee, brother Benjamin, thy stancl- 

* ing is on slippery places ; have a care and live well, 
1 that thou mayst die well and come to me. 5 And 
said often to his brother and sister, ' Live every day 

* as if it were your last day.' 

On the day he died, he said to his mother, and 
aunt Damaris Kirton, i Sit close to me, and I will 

* keep close to the Lord. Methinks I see the Lord 



PIETY PROMOTED. 511 

c coming to call me this day, or to send the angel of 
f his presence 5 and I am ready to meet him.' 

Afterwards he said, ' How gloriously the outward 

* sun doth shine ; so doth the sun of righteousness 
c shine upon my soul this day.' 

A while after he asked if it rained, and it was 
told him it did ; then after a pause, he said, ' It is 
' a mollifying day, the Lord mollify and tender all 
i our hearts and spirits/ Then, after a time of 
stillness, he said to his aunt Damaris, afore-named, 

* I have something to say, but my breath is very 
e short y and desired of the Lord to give him breath 
that he might speak, and in a little time he was 
answered, and the Lord opened his mouth in a 
wonderful manner to those that were about him *, 
he particularly directed himself to the youth, and 
expressed a great concern that the young generation 
that were coming up, might remember their Creator 
in the days of their youth, &c. which, with the 
living presence of the Lord, that was then felt, so 
tendered the hearts of all present, that there was 
scarce a dry eye ; but his excellent exhortation was 
not taken verbatim, so is here omitted. 

He concluded with a fervent prayer to the Lord, 
and fell asleep in the Lord the 3d of the Ninth 
month, 1706, and his corpse was buried in friends 
burying-ground, in Hammersmith, in Middlesex, 
the 7th of the same. And as he was well beloved 
and esteemed, he was accompanied with many 
friends and neighbours, he having said, ! I do not 
4 care how much company is at my burial ; for I 
1 believe the Lord will meet with them.' And so 
the Lord was pleased to appear in that solemnity^ 
blessed be his holy name for ever. 

" Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death 
of his saints," Psalm cxvi. 15. 



y 4 



5 1 1 PIETY PROMOTED. 

"VjARIABELLA, wife of THOMAS FARMBO- 
- L * J - ROUGH, was convinced of the blessed troth 
about the year i6yc,ar a meeting of friends, when they 
met in the streets, being kept out of their meeting- 
houses ; though for many years before, she was for 
ch as she believed, preached and declared 
h their own experience of what the Lord had 
done for them and in them. 

•• her cdhvin cement she received a testimony. 
f she suffered divers impri- 
■ ■, the Counter and Bridewell 
in Newgate and Bridewell, in 
tol. 
was a tender serviceable woman, and was in- 
strumental in the hand of the Lord, by the testimony 
he gave her to bear for his name and truth, to turn 
people from darkness to light. 

She wns remarkable for going early to meetings, 
and used to say, ■ She loved to be one of the two 
' or three at early meetings.' And though in her 
old age she was afflicted with lameness and weakness 
of body, yet she was loath to miss meetings, though 
she could not go without help ; and when she came 
from thence would say, she found herself much 
better than when she went. 

She lived an innocent life, and was very service- 
able with our dear friend Mary Elson, and other 
ancient friends in visiting friends, and encouraging 
them to their duty, in going to meetings for worship, 
and albO to those appointed for taking care of our 
poor and distressed. 

A little time before her departure she said her 
day's work was done, and that she could say, she 
had not overdone, neither left undone what God 
required of her, according to the best of her know- 
ledge. She quietly departed this life, the 3d of the 
First month, 1708, in the Eighty-third year of her 



PIETY PROMOTED. 513 

"JOSHUA HOLME, son of Thomas Holme, and 
*-* Jennet his wife, of Flookburgh, in Cartmei, 
Lancashire, was born in the year 1684, and educa- 
ted in the true Christian religion, and way of truth 
professed by the people called Quakers. In his 
childhood and tender years he came to have some 
experience of the work of the Lord in his soul ; 
and as he humbly waited upon God in Ivs holy 
fear, and was exercised in frequent prayer unto him 
in his spirit, he increased in Christian experience. 
And being faithful to the discoveries of the holy- 
spirit, he was made more and more a partaker of 
his great love and goodness. 

In the Third month, 1709, he was taken with a 
fever, which for two weeks was pretty moderate, 
but afterwards grew more sharp ; and, as his bodily 
affliction increased, such was the assistance of the 
spirit of God, that he grew more and more a par- 
taker of its comforts •, and influenced by this heavenly 
life, he uttered many savoury expressions, to the 
satisfaction, and greatly tendering of the hearts of 
those present, though several of them were not of 
the same profession. l I have had many hard nights,' 
said he, 'but I have been comforted, for God hath 
appeared unto me above whatever I could think \ 
with more words to this effect, for which he re- 
turned praises to the Lord. 

The evening following he supplicated the Lord, 
saying, 'O Saviour of souls ! O Saviour of souls! 
* have pity of my soul ; for terrible, terrible, O 
' Lord God, art thou to the wicked : ' — and con- 
tinued supplicating the Lord for a considerable 
time. 

When his doctor told him there was hope of 
life, but he might prepare for death, he replied, 
*1 have done that long since.' Some of his friends 
coming to visit him, he said to them, ( When I was 
€ working with the apprentices and workmen in the 
Y S 



5 1 + PIETY PROMOTED. 

■ shop, I was often under great exercise of mine!, 






* which occasioned me many times to walk into the 
' garden and fields in the evening tide, and there to 
1 pour forth mv supplications unto the Lord ; and at 

* such times I had a sense of the goodness of the 
1 Lord, which did strengthen me, and help me over 

* the temptations of the enemy. I have kept also to 
1 my ezerci le m meetings, which is now my com- 
4 fort •, but what will become of those who do not 

p to their exercise in meetings ?' And when 
he had given this relation, he said to them, * If this 
' be the last opportunity I should have with you, I 

* am well satisfied •,' and so concluded in thankful 
acknowledgments to the Lord. 

Another time his mother said to him, * I am afraid 

* thou wilt die, and we are sorry to part with thee.' 
He replied, * Very like; so am I with you : but if 

* it please God it must be so, do not murmur, for 
4 we mu^t all be separated. ' Another time he said, 
4 What will become of those who go to meetings, 
1 and neglect their duty in waiting upon God in the 
4 meeting-time, for many of our young people do 

* not walk up according to truth. Ah ! it is heart- 

* work that God accepts of : praises to God for 

* ever.' 

Adding, 4 I think I may not live long ; but I have 

* taken heed to my ways, which is my own now. — 

* I am sealed, I am sealed to the day of redemption ; 

* I am satisfied of it/ After some time returning 
praises to God, saying, ' O Lord God, thou hast 
4 been bountiful to my soul ; ' he went on, * I have 

* been low, tender and humble, and that is my com- 

* fort now ', for I have that in my heart which doth 
4 burn against sin and wickedness.' 

The day before he died he spoke of many ex- 
cellent things for about an hour, which were not 
noted, except this saying, l Be prepared, be prepared 

* for your latter end 5 ' which had a sensible effect 



PIETY PROMOTED. 51^ 

upon the persons present, as being serious advice 
from the mouth of a dying man, who had witnessed 
the greatest satisfaction of a sick-bed, of being ready 
for his change, assured of an eternal state of glory ; 
without which assurance all must needs be in a 
dreadful apprehension of everlasting misery in their 
last and most important moments here. 

He died the 27th of the Third month, 1709, and 
was buried the 29th of the same, at the Height, in 
Cartmel j aged Twenty-five years. 



'"THOMAS WILSON, late of Kendal, son of John 
-*- and Elizabeth Wilson, of Coldbeck, in Cumber- 
land, was born in the year 1670, and educated by 
his parents in the way of truth. And about the 
year 1701, the Lord called him to the work of the 
ministry, and raised him up in a public testimony, 
which he faithfully bore by the ability given him of 
Gcd, being truly concerned for Sion's welfare, that 
all who were convinced of the blessed truth, might 
grow in the enjoyment of it ; that by the power 
thereof they might be enabled to stand in a trying 
day. 

He travelled very much in the service of truth, 
visiting friends in many parts. In the year 1702 he 
went in the work of the ministry into Northumber- 
land and Scotland. In 1703 he laboured in the 
same work in Westmoreland, Yorkshire, Lancashire, 
and Cheshire. In 1704 he removed out of Cum- 
berland, to Kendal, in Westmoreland. In 1705 he 
went into Ireland, to preach the word of life and 
gospel of peace, and in the south and west parts of 
England, travelling about eleven months. In 1706 
he visited friends in their meetings in Cumberland, 
Scotland, Northumberland, Durham, and some parts 
of Yorkshire. In 1707 he laboured in that service 
Y6 



5i6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

amongst friends in Lancashire, Cheshire, "Worcester- 
shire, Gloucestershire, Bristol, London, and several 
other parts of this nation. In 1708 he travelled 
again into Lancashire, Cheshire, Wales, Hereford- 
shire, Gloucestershire, Bristol, Somersetshire, Devon- 
shire, and Cornwall, returning through Dorsetshire 
•and Hampshire to London, and then homewards. 
In about a month's time after he got home, he began 
to be out of health, being about the 1st of the Fourth 
month, 1709. 

lie bore his sickness with much patience, and 
ed to be quiet and inwardly retired, being wholly 
resigned up unto the Lord, either to live or die; and 
, ry thankful to God, for his heavenly visi- 
tation in the time of bodily weakness, expressing 
: ' O Lofd, in thy great love and mercy, 
n me victory over the enemy's power, 

* and bv thy powerful hand benrest up my spirit, and 

* makest my soul triumph over hell, death and the 

: .' Several friends coming to visit him, he 
. ' Peace with the Lord in a dying hour is better 

* than all this world ; it is gladness to me to think I 
4 must die, being fully satisfied it will be abundantly 
' more gain to me to die than to live.' But he la- 
mented the condition of those who spend their time 
negligently, and in forgetfulness of God, saying, 
' A woeful portion they will meet with at one day : ' 
and therefore he fervently exhorted to more diligence, 
warning them to prize time, and be more careful for 
time to come j and his expressions being seasoned 
with the grace of God, they overcame and melted 
several friends into tenderness, and they were greatly 
comforted and refreshed by his words. 

The day before his departure he said, c I desire 
c that friends may grow in the truth : Oh ! the hea- 

* venly life in the truth is glorious, to feel it spring 
1 and run amongst God's people. — I now remember 
' Scotland, Ireland, and England ; Oh ; the precious 



Piety promoted. 517 

1 times I have had in these three nations ! how the 

* life and power of God's word hath filled me 
1 amongst the assemblies of the people of God ! ' — ■ 
Then he prayed to the Lord, that he would preserve 
all his servants in the spring of life, and said to those 
present, i Keep down to the root of life in yourselves, 

* for I feel at this time consolation in the power of 
8 God.' 

And being sensible his time here was short, he 
desired to see several friends who lived near before 
he died, and at his request they were sent for ; to 
whom he declared how desirous he was to see them, 
and told them he sent for them to take his last leave 
of them before he died ; and spoke severally to many 
of their states and conditions, and often advised 
friends to keep their minds out of the world, many 
times saying, * This world, this world hinders the 
1 growth of the seed of God in the hearts of many. 5 
He earnestly desired to have his dear love remem- 
bered to friends^ saying his dear love in Jesus Christ 
was to all the faithful. 

He was very much filled with the sense of the 
Lord's goodness, and his spirit was raised above his 
bodily.weakness : and in this heavenly frame of mind, 
he fervently prayed for the preservation and prospe- 
rity of the church of Christ in general, and particu- 
larly for the meeting he then belonged to ; and after 
some time spent in prayer and praises to the Lord, 
having delivered most of what was in his mind by 
way of advice to friends, to be faithful and watchful, 
he said, what he had to say he had said, save one 
thing, and that was as followeth \ * I believe a trying 
' day will come, that will try the foundations of 
( people ; and I exhort you (i. e. those present) to 
1 get down to truth in yourselves, where you may 
' be able to stand ; for in the day of trial none will 
' be able to stand, save those that have their rooting 

* in .the truth \ for that it would be short and sharp \ 



5 lS piety promoted. 

and then prayed that friends might be able to stand 
in that day, saying, l God will be with all them that 

* fear him. As for me, I am ready, and wait to be 

* dissolved, that I may be with Christ for ever:' and 

i his solid and prophetical expressions with this 
serious admonition, ' Friends, I desire you to re- 
4 member what I have said, and mind them as they 

* are the word., of a dying man;' concluding with, 
' now friends you may take vour time.' And then 
turning him: ell" from them, he said, * Now, Lord, 
1 I will wait fof my change, be it lunger or shorter-,' 
and lay still and quiet the remainder of that night 
and the next day, till about two or three hours h 

lus departure, which was the i ~th of the Fourth 
month, lyc, in peace, and fini . ;urse with 

joy, being feasible of the love of God to his soul, 
and having assurance -Ueritance which 

will never fade away. 

He was buried the 17th of the Fourth month, 
1709, in friends burial-ground, in Kendal. 

Aged about Thirty-nine years. A minister about 
Eight years. 



T^DWARD WILSON, belonging to Grayrigg 
-*- J meeting, was convinced of the blessed truth in 
early days, about the year 1655, and some few years 
after did appear in a public testimony among friends ; 
though not in many words, yet in much innocency 
and brokenness of heart. A man of a meek, and 
quiet spirit, and was of good esteem amongst friends, 
as also among his neighbours. He was very service- 
able in entertaining friends with a free and open 
heart. 

In the Sixth month, 1709, it pleased the Lord to 
visit him with sickness of body, by which he was 
taken off. On his death-bed he often expressed the 
peace and satisfaction that he met with?" from the 



PIETY PROMOTED. 519 

Lord, as also his willingness to leave this world : and 
so died in peace with the Lord, and in assurance o£ 
eternal life, the 5th of the Seventh month, 1709, and 
was buried in friends' burying-ground, in Lambrig, 
the 7th of the same, being about Sixty-eight years 
of age. 



ly/fARGARET, the wife of JOHN LANCASTER 
*Y ■ of Thorncroft, near Great Strickland, in West- 
moreland, was born in the year 1658, and was con- 
vinced of the blessed truth about the year 1697 •, and 
in the year 1701 she appeared in a public testimony 
amongst friends. 

In the Eighth month, 1708, it pleased the Lord to 
visit her with sickness, of which she did not recover °. 
and although her pain and exercise of body was for 
a long time very great, yet she was enabled to endure 
it with much patience, and preserved very sensible 
unto the last. She often desired of the Lord, and 
prayed unto him, that he would enable her to bear 
with patience what he was pleased to lay upon her. 
And towards the latter end of her illness, she often 
expressed how glad she was, that the conclusion of 
her time in this world was so near, because she had 
a full assurance of peace and rest in the kingdom, of 
glory with the Lord her Saviour and Redeemer, 
when time to her in this world should be no more. 

She called her husband and family to take her 
leave of them, and being filled with life, she gave 
good advice to them all, in a sweet and tender frame 
of spirit, and told those present the great gain it 
would be to love and fear God above all : then she 
said, ' Now I expect to be dissolved, and see you no 
* mere.' So did this handmaid of the Lord sweetly 
finish her days, the 14th of the Seventh month, 1709, 
and was buried the 16th of the same 3 in friends' 
burying-ground at Newhy-head. 

Aged about Fifty-one, and a minister Eight years. 



520 PIETY PROMOTED. 

pEORGE KNIPE, of the parish of Hawksheacf, 
^ in the county of Lancaster, was born in the year 
165^ being brought up Lv nib parents in the religion 
of the church of England* and in his youth much 
inclined to vanity-, but about the year 1675, being 
tlw Twenty-second year of his age, the Lord was 
pleased by the true light, which 1 ghteth every man 
that cometh into the world, to shew him the vanity 
of his wars, and his then deplorable state and con- 
dition, and brought him not only to a godly sorrow 
for his sins and vanity, for which he had often felt 
reproof, but unto an unfeigned repentance. And 
now he gave up in obedience to the recjuirings of 
God's holy spirit in his heart, and became a diligent 
frequenter of the meetings of the Lord's people 
tailed Quakers, and was made partaker of the like 
precious faith that was delivered to the saints , the 
Lord having revealed to him the way of life, he 
made public profession thereof, and walked therein ; 
so that the great change that was wrought in him 
was very evident and conspicuous to all that knew 
him : for as before lie was in the use of singing idle 
songs, and his discourses were vain j now he was 
sober, serious and religious, and very circumspect 
and godly in his conversation. So efficacious was 
the power of the blessed truth, which he received, 
believed in, and obeyed. And continuing faithful 
unto the Lord, he was pleased in the year 1685 
(about ten years after he was convinced) to call and 
put him into the ministry •, unto which call he was 
obedient, and became a diligent, zealous and faithful 
labourer in the gospel of peace, and travelled much, 
willingly to preach the same for the good of souls ; 
and was made very serviceable in many parts, as 
England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the whole time 
of his life, after he w r as called into the work of the 
ministry, he mostly spent in travelling to publish the 
glad tidings of the gospel of salvation, and to preach 



PIETY PROMOTED, 521 

Christ, whom the Lord hath given for a witness and 
covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles. 
And he devoted himself to serve the Lord, whom he 
truly loved and feared. He had unfeigned love to 
his brethren, and good will to all men, whose salva- 
tion he earnestly desired. He was of a sympathizing 
spirit with those under exercise and affliction, and 
laboured for love and unity. He was a man of 
peace, yet zealous for the truth, and preservation of 
the testimony thereof in its simplicity. And although 
he was very little of a scholar, yet well understood 
the holy scriptures, both in the letter and mystery, 
and his ministry was plain, and doctrine sound, and 
his preaching reaching, edifying and lively 5 the Lord 
being wuh him, and his presence and power attending 
him, made his doctrine very prevalent, tending much 
to promote piety and virtue, he loving and living a 
godly and virtuous life, agreeable to what he taught. 

And in his travels he went unto the House of : , 

Robinson, the 27th of the Seventh month, 

1709, and being sorely afflicted with sickness, he 
could not travel, but was preserved in a living sense 
of the love of God, and often praised the Lord, and 
gave good exhortations to the family, and those that 
came -to visit him were greatly comforted, and he 
declared in their company, and often expressed he 
was freely resigned and content in the will of God ; 
and that he was well satisfied he had spent so much 
of his time in the Lord's service. And in a sweet 
frame and temper of spirit he continued till the 4th 
of the Eighth month, 1709, being the Fifty-sixth 
year of his age, and then departed in peace with God, 
after he had- laboured in the ministry twenty-four 
years. 

And at his funeral many being met to perform the 
last office of love, to see his body interred, the Lord 
was pleased eminently to appear, and crown that as- 



522 PIETY PROMOTED. 

sembly with his divine presence •> and though he be 
removed from as, which is the churc .; r loss, 

yet we are satisfied his gain is much greater, being 
entered into the kingdom that never shall nave end. 



TV TATTHEW DICKENSON, of Cumberland, was 
-*-*-*- born in the year 1627, and was convinced by 
the spirit of truth, am I it in the love thereof 

in thi it that received 

truth in tl was this ftd ancient 

friend, who was faithful to the requiringa of the 
Lord i and the Lord fitted him to bear testimony to 
his holy name and truth soon after his conyincement, 
and caused him to call and warn both priests and 
people to turn to the light of the Lord Jesus that 
shined in their hearts, and to repent of their wicked- 
ne >, and to believe in Christ, and to obey him. 

He was much concerned to go to the public places 
of worship to preach the gospel of Christ in love to 
peoples souls, being greatly desirous that they might 
receive it, as he had do*ie, But he met with deep 
sufferings by beatings, abusing and imprisonment 5 
yet he persevered in true faith, sincere love, great 
zeal, and godly courage. So that there were but few 
public places in all the county but what he visited 
and laboured among them. He travelled but little 
to visit friends abroad, but frequently attended 
meetings at heme, and was very instrumental in 
settling of a meeting called Westside, though- he 
belonged to Pardsey meeting,, in Cumberland. He 
was an innocent man, and of a blameless conver- 
sation among all sorts of people, and stedfastly 
walked so in the churches of Christ. He retained 
his integrity to the end, and a little before his death, 
he said; i I feel the Lord's love and power over all, 



PIETY PROMOTED. 523 

€ and am satisfied all will be well.' He died thai 
23d of the Ninth month, 1709. 

Aged about Eighty-two ; a minister near Fifty- 
six years. 



JEREMIAH, son of JEREMIAH and MARY 
** WARING, of Witney, in the county of Oxford, 
born the 2 1 st of the First month, 168 8, was a youth en- 
dued with divine and natural capacity •, both which ex- 
cellencies in him (through divine goodness and pa- 
rental education) seemed to over grow his tender 
years j for about the fourth or fifth year of his age, 
a friend being at his father's house, who was con- 
cerned in supplication unto the Lord, did then per- 
ceive him reached with an immediate touch of divine 
love ; which thing the friend observed to his parents. 
And as he grew in years, grew more obedient there- 
to, and became in a good degree leavened into the 
nature of it ; so that he seemed worthy to be called 
a wise son, by whom is made a glad father. For 
he did not only prosper in things divine, but was 
also of great service to his parents in their business, 
which he managed with $are an.4 dexterity. And 
though he was but a youth, admitted those things in 
his mind no farther than their proper limits •, but 
always had such a veneration and regard for truth, 
that he might be ready to defend and maintain the 
same, whensoever it might be required of him •, for 
which service the Lord was pleased to administer 
unto him suitable qualifications. And for a proof 
of his verity, the meeting to which he did belong, 
being one First-day gathered to worship God in 
spirit and truth, and there being none concerned 
verbally, friends were attacked by an old adversary 
of truth, who came in and made disturbance by way 
of inquiry, which this young man so suitably an- 
swered, that he went off ; but returned thither again 



PIETY PROMOTED. 

*!n the afternoon, and brought with him many peo- 
ple, and endeavoured to insinuate into them, thai? 
we denied the death of Christ ; to corroborate whit!), 
he read part of a sentence out of a book wr t by A 
friend. But this youth opposed him, and made it 
>us that his was false, and that he had 

the author which gained so much 

the auditory, that they wont off with satisfac- 
md riiis d,>t\:. ;hame. And as he 

ied for maintaining and defend- 
ing truth's i and professed 

so that he ting in practice the 

win ; ied church, that 

truth might be 'om all intestine foes'; 

and in d for that purpose he was 

vcrv s< rviceable. 

He was given much to reading and retirement, 
and having read many authors, both ancient and 
modern, and traced almost every custom and cere- 
no'.h' (made use of by those called Christians) to 
their very source from whence they were taken, and 
how long they had been in the performance of them, 
which he collected into a book, and placed each par- 
ticular in its proper class, and also many wise and 
notable sayings of judicious men, concerning the 
spirituality of the true Christian religion ; between 
which he had left proper spaces, designing (as we 
suppose) to fill it up with the product of his own 
fruitful genius ; and had he lived to have completed 
the work, he would doubtless have given the world 
a sufficient proof of his excellent qualifications. A 
verv worthy friend, (who is since deceased) Thomas 
Eilwood, desired to view his writings,, which 
when he had perused he returned, and with them, 
this character, that ' The composer did assimulate 

* the industrious bee, which gathered honey from 
1 every herb 5 and like the wise master-builder, had 
( brought materials for the building, though he did 

* not live to finish the work/ 



PIETY PROMOTED. 525 

To be short, he was of a dean life, and of a 
blameless conversation, a zealous attender of meet- 
ings, and an example to the youth where he lived. 
He was very industrious in spreading friends books^ 
and it may be said of him, he lived beloved, and 
died lamented, both by friends and neighbours 5 for 
he was a dutiful child, a tender brother, a faithful 
friend, and a good neighbour. 

He went from home to the city of London in his 
father's business, and was there taken i!i on the 
•Fourth-day of the week, and died the second-day 
following, at a relation's house. He uttered many 
precious sayings and heavenly expressions ; but his 
relations, and those that came to visit him, were 
not so .careful as to pen them down. He signified 
what a concern he had for his parents and his friends 
.in the country, whom he thought would be involved 
in tears and sorrow, when the news of his illness 
•reached their ears. He expressed his resignation to 
the will of the Lord 5 whether life or death. He 
often called on his mother, being in hopes he should 
have seen her before he died $ but his distemper in- 
creasing so fast, that before she came he had put off 
^this mortal clcathing, and ascended (we do not 
^doubt) into those celestial mansions of everlasting 
.bliss, of which fruition he had an earnest whilst on 
,earth, though young in years ; and as the wise man 
.says, " Though the righteous be prevented with 
* c death, \ yet shall ye be in rest. For honourable 
" age is not that which standeth in length of 
■* f time, cor that which is measured by number .of 
" years ; -but wisdom is grey hairs unto men, and 
£' an unspotted life is old age." 

He departed this life the 24th day of the Second- 
: month, 17 10, and was interred in friends burying^ 
•place, near Bunhill-fields, London. 



5 26 PIETY PROMOTED. 

HTHOMAS EVERDEN, was formerly an inha- 
* bitant of Canterbury, in England, and went into 
America, and lived at Fishing Creek, in Eastern 
Shore. He was one whom the Lord fitted for the 
work of the ministry, and he preached the gospel of 
peace. And the Lord also gifted him to be helpful 
in government in the church, and to maintain the 
order of the gospel. And in the meekness of 
wisdom and power of God was he made to testify 
t those that stood not faithful in their tes- 
timonies for the truth (which the Lord required at 
their hands.) And such as would not be restored 
by the spirit of meekness in the labour of love, and 
be prevailed upon to be orderly in their conversation, 
he wis zealous that they should be testified against-, 
and careful he was to maintain the testimony of 
truth in the simplicity thereof. He also zealously 
and faithfully laboured long in the Lord's vineyard, 
to the convincing, building up, and confirming 
many in the faith of God's elect, in many parts of 
America. And the Lord's power and presence at- 
tended him in all the services he concerned him in, 
and greatly blessed him and his labour in the gospel. 
Ke retained his love to the Lord, his zeal for his 
name, and concern for his glory unto the end, as 
may partly appear by the following account of his 
dying sayings, and the epistle he wrote a few days 
before his death. 

He was taken ill about the ioth of the Third 
month, 17 10, and continued weak about three or 
four weeks ; in which time he did very often express 
his great satisfaction relating to his future state, for 
he declared, he did expect the Lord had sent the 
messenger of death to summons him to his long 
home ; and he said, { Death is made easy to me, 
' because I know the sting is taken away, and my 
* Lord is near me.' He also often said, c I have 



; , PIETY PROMOTED. 527 

* 'but little pain, for my Lord, whom I have served^ 
' is with me, and fills my treasury/ 

He ofren exhorted his children, friends and neigh- 
bours, to keep to truth, and in love with one ano- 
ther ; adding, l How good a thing it is to have tlie 

* favour and smiles of Jesus upon a dying bed, 

* which cannot be had out of the truth/ And there- 
fore he exhorted all to serve the Lord in their day 
faithfully, and to stand Up for the testimony of truth 
in their day, not fearing the frowns of men 5 for ? 
said he, c what should I have done now, if I had 

* gained the whole world, and had now been desti- 
s tute of the favour of my Lord, which is more to 

* me than all the world/ 

And with many such expressions, .good admoni- 
tions and advice, he continued until his departure, 
which was on the 4th day of the Fourth month, 1 7 10, 

A copy of the afore-mentioned letter, sent about ten 
. ^ days before his death, directed to the meeting of 
.ministering-friends, at West-River. 

From Fishing .Creek, the 24th 
of the Third Month, 1710. k 

■* Friends, 

* In the love of the Lord Jesus Christ I salute you 

* all. I am at this time very weak in body, in ex- 

* peetation of my dissolution to be near at hand. 

' Blessed be the Lord God who hath called us, 
c and chosen us to be witnesses, not only in word 

* and doctrine, but in a holy life and godly con- 

* versation. His living and powerful presence is 

* with me, and in this I greatly rejoice. 

* My brethren, my love abounds greatly to you ; 
1 and -I embrace you and salute you in the same love 
•* and life with which the Lord hath loved me. 

-* Receive this friendly exhortation from your 

* dying brother (as I think) that as God hath given 



5 28 PIETY PROMOTED. 

4 us a gift, and opened our mouths in his name, that 
4 you abide and Jive in his name; for herein are w« 
4 made instrumental for the gathering of others, and 

* to glorify his name. — What ! hath God chosen US, 
4 and counted us worthy to speak to his church and 
4 people, and to turn many to righteousness ? Sure- 

* ly, brethren, it greatly concerns us to walk even 
1 as our Lord walked when he was up n the earth, 
4 according to the measure of the gilt of grace that 
1 we have received from him, in patience, in meek- 
4 ness, and wisdom, and heavenly gravity and few 

* words, such as minister grace to the hearers, and 

* those who converse with us. 

4 Since 1 last saw you, my service has been chiefly 
1 at Cecil and Chester, and Great Choptank. 
1 Farewell] farewell in the Lord. 

c THOMAS EVERDEN,' 



TT/ILLIAM HORNOLD, dwelt near RadcJifT- 
* * highway, in the county of Middlesex, when 
the Lord was pleased to qualify and call him into 
the work of the ministry ; he travelled in that ser- 
vice in England, Scotland. Ireland and Holland, and 
laboured zealously therein, and was very industrious 
to get s in places where none had been, or 

at least for several years past. 

In i 710 he was taken ill in his travels, and being 
desirous to get homeward, got on his way so far as 
Baidock, in Hertfordshire, and there continued ill 
and weak until he died, at the house of John Izard, 
who was kind and loving to him. 

In the time of his bodily weakness he gave many 
good exhortations, and at several times spoke as 
follows : 

4 Friends, I would have you take notice of what 
f I say y the hand of the Lord God will be upon 



PIETY PROMOTED. 529 

€ tliis nation and other nations, and the day of the 
c Lord will be terrible to the wicked and ungodly ; 

* for he will assuredly shake their foundations ; and, 
c he will sever between the sheep and goats, and he 

* will winnow the chaff from the wheat : but he 

* will plead the cause of the righteous, and it shall 
' be well with them ; yea, and his glorious truth 
' shall prosper. He will make Zion the beauty of 

* nations, and Zion's king shall reign in glory over 

* all. The Lord will also try his own people, they 
' shall suffer troubles ; but he will save and succour 

* the righteous, that truly fear, serve and love him. 

* And the Lord will divide between the righteous 

* who have served him in truth, and those that live 
' only in a bare profession, and have not been 
' faithful to the Lord in their day. But as for the 
'righteous, that keep their places, and serve the. 
' LorcL in truth, and have washed their garments 
€ white in the blood of the Lamb, they shall shine 

' forth in glory, and shall stand upon Mount Zion, 
'praising their God and their king 'with heavenly 
' harps in their hands ; and they shall reign and live 
c with him, who is their God and their king, for 
' ever and ever.* 

Another time he said, ' It is a brave thing for 

* young people, in the days of their youth, to serve 

' the Lord : oh ! how glad should I be, if our youth . 
( would mind to serve the Lord in their minority ! 

* for the day is coming that will try them; yea, it. 

* will purify them that abide faithful to the Lord 
' their God ;' or to this effect, with many more 
seasonable exhortatfons both to old and young. 

He also exhorted friends earnestly to follow the 
Lord fully, saying, ' Let not any thing of the glory 
' of this world steal away your minds and your 
4 hearts from the Lord your God ; mind that you 

* follow the Lord fully, for his love is to all such, 
'beyond what testimonies can declare or set forth 

Vol I. Z 



530 PIETY PROMOTED. 

* to the full j* — with much more to the same effect, 
no; taken down. 

Again, 4 I thank the Lord my God, who hath 

* k pt and preserved me ever since he made me 

* sensible of his everlasting truth ; and through the 
4 help of the Lord my God, 1 have laboured faith- 

* fully, according to the ability the Lord hath given, 
4 &c. Yea, I can say, I have laboured freely in 
4 the service of the Lord, that he called me to for 
k the promotion of his everlasting truth upon earth, 

* and for the gathering of the people to the holy 

* way of the Lord : and I have not sought myself, 
4 but served my God in truth and faithfulness, 

* according to that ability the Lord gave me, praised 

* be his holy name fur ever, for all honour and 

* gloryj thanksgiving and everlasting praises shall 
1 be given, attributed and ascribed to the Lord 

* my God ; for it is his due, and he is everlastingly 

* worthy of it. 

* And now I rest in the will of the Lord, and in 

* peace with him ; for I know that everlasting 
1 peace with my God is the portion of my soul : 

* praises, praises, everlasting praises be to the holy 

* name of the Lord my God for ever and ever/ 

And speaking a few words to the youth, he said 
to this effect : 

4 Oh ! remember Moses, that true servant of God 
in his day, who saw beyond all the glory of Egypt ; 
4 and he, as it were trampled upon it, and rather 
4 chose to suffer affliction with the people of God, 
4 for his faithfulness to him, than to enjoy the 
4 pleasures of sin for a season : and he loved the 
4 Lord, and followed him fully, and served him 
4 faithfully ; and the Lord was with him, and blessed 
4 him in his way j and so will he still bless all those 
4 who labour to follow the example of Moses, that 
4 faithful servant of the Lord, and walk in the path 
4 of the righteous, who have truly loved God and 



PIETY PROMOTED. 531 

* served him in faithfulness in their day and ge- 
c neration ; praised and magnified be the holy and 
4 powerful name of the Lord our God for ever and 

* ever/ 

Again he said, 4 Oh ! good is the Lord, and 
' worthy to be served by all the children of men, 
4 and more especially those that are concerned for 
4 the glory of his name ; oh ! thanks, honour and 
4 glory be given to the holy glorious najne of the 

* Lord, for he is good to my soul/ 

At another time he said to some friends who 
came to visit him, 'Oh ! persevere and go on in the 
4 way of the Lord, and the Lord will be with you, 
4 and will ever bless you ; for no tongue can 

* declare, nor pen set forth, what the Lord hath in 

* store for them that love him. 

4 I have been a concerned man, a traveller for 
4 Zion's seed, and a faithful labourer in the gospel 
4 of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, according to 
4 the ability the Lord gave unto me 5 and now I ana 
1 going to the Lord my God, where I shall have 
i everlasting rest with hkn, and the glorious immacu- 
4 late Lamb, who lives and reigns with the Father 

* for ever and ever. 

4 So my dearly beloved friends and brethren, 
c now we must part, and I leave you to the Lord, 
6 desiring the Lord may ever be with you, and bless 
4 you in the way of truth and righteousness ; and 
4 , if you live and die in the truth, we shall meet 
4 again hereafter, and enjoy everlasting peace in the 
4 mansions of glory. — But now we see in part, and 
4 know in part •, but then I shall see, as I am' seen 5- 
4 and then I shall know, as also I am known. 

4 And I would. have you remember these words 
4 of counsel, and that it was given you by one who 
4 is your friend and brother, who loveth the ever 
4 blessed truth above all. So, my dear friends, 

* now I leave you, and commit you to him who is 

Z2 



PIETY PROMOTED, 

* worthy, worthy of everlasting praises, worship, 

* honour, eternal renown and adoration ; unto whom 

* all hallelujahs ami high praises are sung, world 

* without end, saith my soul.' 

Some ot his last words, which could be perfectly 
rstood, when Ins spirits were weak, and his 
voice very low, were as follow : 

1 O holy God ! thou art pure, powerful, and very 

* pood unto my poor soul ; blessed and praised be 

holy name of the Lord, for all his mercies 

* every day ami every way. O Lord, thou art 

* wonderful in all thy works: oh! thou art good to 

* all thy little ones, that fear and reverence thy 

u! name/ &c« 

Thus he lay praising God, and speaking of his 

ness, until his speech was taken from him, 

which was Cor a great part of that day he died, 

of the Seventh month, 1710; 

and was buried in friends' burying-place at Baldock 

on the 29th following. 



\yiLLIAIM CROUCH, according to his best 
calculation, was born on the 5th day of the 
S fcond month, called April, 1628, in a small village 
. Penton, by Weyhill, near Andover, in Hamp- 
shire. His father was a substantial yeoman, of good 
repute in the country, and well beloved of his neigh- 
bours. His mother was a religious woman, and had 
conversarion amongst the people- in that day called 
Puritans. She was very watchful over her children, 
to preserve them from committing any evil, either 
in word or action, and would often get them 
together, and be with them on their knees in prayer 
to God ; wherein she hath left a good example unto 
others of her sex. 

When he was a child, the Lord did often visit 



PIETY PROMOTED. 533 

him in mercy } and as her grew up, preserved and 
delivered him from many great temptations and 
evils incident to youth, inclining his heart to shun 
the rude and extravagant company of the thnes, and 
to associate himself with those that were soberly 
and religiously disposed. He diligently attended 
the ministry of such public preachers as were most 
esteemed, and followed by the most religious, as he 
apprehended j and often wrote their sermons,- and 
was sometimes much affected, returning home, arid 
retiring himself, and offering his supplications to 
God : but not knowing that the Lord was so near 
unto him as he was, he witnessed^ little growth or 
increase of grace in his heart, or power over his 
affections and lusts j but was sometimes overcome 
by sinful temptations, and often prevailed upon by 
vain objects, which afterwards proved a burthen 
and load upon' his soul ; yet the Lord in his great 
mercy did not cast him off", but with much long- 
sufteriDg and patience, followed him with the re- 
proofs of instruction, which he found by experience 
to be the way of life. For now, viz. in the year 
1656, he came to be in some measure convinced of 
the everlasting truth of God, revealed to the people 
called Quakers. And having been at some of their 
meetings in London, where he heard the testimony 
of truth declared, he was further reached by it, 
and by degrees fully convinced, that salvation is 
only in and through Christ Jesus the gift of God, 
and light of the world, spiritually revealed in the 
heart and conscience, and sincerely believed in and 
obeyed. 

And as he was convinced of the, truth, so was he, 
by the grace of God, enabled to walk in it, and to 
keep up a faithful testimony to it in life and 
. conversation, according to the measure of the divine 
gift bestowed upon him. He rested not in the 
beginnings of regeneration, where too many content 
Z'3- 



f j + PIETY PROMOTED. 

themselves, but waited for, and laboured after, 

ugh the assistances and influences of the holy 

gradual and progressive work of sancti- 

fication, having a state of perfection in his view, 

and l attainable on this side the grave, by 

the grace of God, through perseverance in faith, 

hum.: bfulness anil prayer, looking unto 

who had begun the good work, 

would confirm it unto the end. He had a sincere 

trds God, his church and people-, yea, 

toward n of men. 

When differ* nce's arose among friends, or others, 

what lie could to reconcile them, 

kindly afFecttonated towards all, but especially 

in whom the love of God appeared. 

As to the things of this world, he placed not his 

affections upon them, but as a friend that well knew 

him testifies, ' His treasure was in heaven ; and for 

4 the treasures of this world, he put no value upon 

1 them any further, than to be his servants for 

* necessary uses, and to do charitable acts therewith 
1 towards others. His charity was large, and many 
1 ways, being ready to assist such as were in trouble, 

* or under affliction of any sort, where either his 

* advice or purse was wanting ; for he spared 
4 neither purse nor pains, when he was called to 

* serve others that needed them. He practised the 
f pure religion, and undefiled before God and the 
1 Father, that is, he frequently visited the fatherless 

* and widows in their affliction, and kept himself 

* unspotted from the world. He was in particular 

* a great support to the poor of the neighbourhood 
1 where he lived in the country, often distributing 

* by others hands largely of his charity to them. 
1 Nor did the stranger in distress go empty-handed 
1 away from his gates/ 

Nor was he less remarkable for doing of justice, 
than exemplary in shewing mercy to the poor, and 



PIETY PROMOTED. 535 

in helping and supporting the weak and afflicted. 
He felt a necessity upon him to keep his word, 
perform his lawful contracts, -pay his just debts, 
and to do to all men, as he would have others do to 
him. 

What he was in his family, whether considered 
as a husband, father, or master-, his children and 
servants, who were immediately under his care, 
give an ample testimony of him, and speak of him 
to have been a singular pattern of piety and virtue^ 
in the discharge of all those relations. 

The Lord enriched him with a large stock of 
spiritual and experimental knowledge, which he had 
been gathering and treasuring up for many years. 
And though he lived not upon his former ex- 
periences, but upon Christ, the living bread, and only 
nourishment of the immortal soul ; yet those ex- 
periences of the loving kindness of God were com- 
fortable to him in the openings of life to remember, 
and helpful to him in giving advice and counsel to 
others. 

In his illness, which sometimes was severe upon 
him, being sorely afflicted with fits of the stone 
about the space of two years before his death, the- 
Lord enabled him to manifest much patience, and 
meekly to submit himself to the divine will. 

About nine months before his own departure, 
and at a time when his distempter was sharp upon- 
him, his second wife, whose name was Ruth, 
(daughter of John Brown, and Ruth his wife, of- 
Wood-street, London) a woman that was and help- 
meet indeed, of a loving and tender spirit, and of 
the same mind with him in the things of God, with 
whom he had lived for fifty years and upwards, in 
the fear of the Lord, and intire affection, was by 
death removed from him. The parting with so; 
near and dear a relation, of whom he left this 
testimony, that she would deny herself to a very 
Z4 



536 PIETY PROMOTED. 

great degree to serve him, beyond what he could 
ask or expect from her, could not but make a deep 
impression upon him : but such was his resignation 
to the will of his heavenly Father, that he possessed 
his soul in patience, acknowledging with Job, that 
"the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: 
ssed be the name of the Lord." Job. i. 21. 

And wow drew on the time of his own dissolution, 
which the Lord had graciously prepared him for, 
and which he patiently expected the accomplishment 
: mired the goodness of God to him, 
in inclining his mind to seek after good from his 
youth, and in preserving of him through the whole 
course of his life to old age. lie also often retired 
in prayer, and waited upon the Lord for support 
Under his daily exercise. 

He had attained, through divine grace, to that 
inward peace and satisfaction of mind, that he 
declared he bad nothing to do but to die. ■ When 
he saw his children concerned for him, he often 
exhorted them not to desire his life, for he was 
through age and weakness, uncapable of being ser- 
viceable according to his desire j and that he had 
done his day's work in his day. 

The day before he died, a friend, who had made 
him several visits in his illness, went to see him j 
whom he found very weak, and sitting some time 
with him waiting upon the Lord, he was moved to 
supplicate the Lord on his behalf, who was pleased 
to answer the cry of his servant, and they were 
greatly comforted together in a sense of the Lord's 
presence and goodness. After prayer he expressed 
his great satisfaction in that heavenly visit, and said, 
as before, he had now nothing to do but to die, 
and waited for the time, when it should please God 
to call him out of this miserable world, and take 
him to his eternal rest. 

The night following he took his solemn leave of 



PIETY PROMOTED. 537 

his children that were then present, telling them he 
now thought he had but a little time, and the time 
which he so greatly desired and waited for v/as near 
at hand;- which was matter of joy to his soul, 
desiring the Lord to make his change easy, that so 
Ris patience might hold out to the end. And the 
Lord granted him his request. 

He departed this life the- 13th cf the Eleventh 
month, 1 7 10, aged about Eighty-two years, at the 
house of his son-in-law, Michael Lovell, in London; 
and was on the 19th following decently buried in' 
friends' burying-ground at Winchmore-hill, in the 
parish of Edmonton, Middlesex; his~ corpse- being 
attended by his children, relations and friends, 



TJOBERT HILL, born in. the parish of Droit- 
-*-*' wich, in the county of Worcester, about the 
year 1630 was convinced of the blessed truth in the 
town of Bromsgrave, in the said county :- and the- 
great Lord of the harvest called him to work in his 
vineyard, and sent .him forth to preach the everlasting 
gospel; which he zealously did. And the Lord's 
power and presence was with him, and his blessing , 
was so upon his labours, that he -was instrumental' 
to convince many in those parts : and though he 
met many oppositions in his travels, and several 
imprisonments, as he often said, the Lord was never 
wanting to carry him on to do his work, with 
strength and holy boldness, to stand and make- 
answer for his God and for the truth before all 
oppo^ers. And when he was brought before 
magistrates, and threatened by them., he feared not. 
their threatenings, nor their jails. 

Some years before his latter end he was troubled : 
with much bodily weakness, which he bore with 
patience; and though his outward sight decayed^, 
Z'$. 



K$ PIETY PROMOTED. 

yet his spiritual sight remained : so that, in a good 
measure, he beheld the invisible things of God, 
and in the sense and love thereof he was often in 
raptures of life, and said, f I am overcome, over- 
' come with the love of my beloved. So now, 
' come, Lord Jesus, for I am ready •, receive my 
4 soul into thy everlasting glory. I have a full 

* assurance of my Father's love, and I long to be 

* with the innumerable company of angels and 

* spirits. I have an earnest desire, and long to be 
' in the fulness of enjoyment, where I may ever 
' be singing praises to God and the Lamb for 
4 evermore.' 

He frequently gave counsel to those that came 
to visit him, for the good of their souls, with much 
tenderness and tears, that they might not walk in 
the broad way of the world ; and declared of the 
Lord's mercy towards the sons of men, if they 
would hearken to the call of the Lord, and be 
obedient thereunto ; testifying that was the way 
to everlasting life. And it pleased the Lord to 
make him instrumental to bring many to a sight 
of their inward condition for the good of their 
souls. 

And as by Providence his dwelling in his latter 
time was near to the meeting-place, he would often 
give thanks unto God for that privilege : and when 
he was weak in body, he would say, * I must go 
' to meeting as long as it pleaseth God to enable 
' me, and see if he hath any service for me to do.' 
And many times notwithstanding his weakness, the 
Lord was pleased to make use of him •, and he 
returned thanks unto God for affording him his 
presence, and enabling him by his power, to pub- 
lish and declare what the Lord had done for his soul. 
lie was a great lover of the poor, very charitable to 
them, and often prayed for them, and intreated the 
Lord, he would be pleased to order for their relief. 



PIETY PROMOTED. £39 

as it s#emed good to him. .His wife, knowing the 
blessed work of charity was well-pleasing to him, did 
sometimes tell him what she had done in that work % 
he would say to her, * I pray God bless thee for it, 
c and be sure thou wi!t have thy reward for relieving 
* the poor ; for the Lord delights in a cheerful giver.* 

He often did mention the goodness of God, being 
truly sensible of it to his soul ; and having a regard 
to the poor, he manifested the same by his frequently 
administering to his necessitous neighbours, and 
also by the gifts and legacies he left them. 

He departed this life in peace with the Lord, the 
7th of the Twelfth month, 17 10, and was buried 
the 10th of the same. Aged about Eighty years. 



A NNE HUMPHREYS, late of SafTron-Walden, 
J ^ k - in the county of Essex, widow, was a yGung 
woman whom the Lord was pleased to visit and 
bless with the knowledge of himself and his un- 
changeable truth, which she received in the love 
thereof; and by waiting upon the Lord therein, 
came to know the work of it in her soul, and to 
experience the sanctifying virtue thereof through 
her obedience thereto. " And the Lord, who by his 
grace made her what she was, was pleased to confer 
upon her a gift of the ministry about three years 
before she died, in which she laboured faithfully. 

In the Fourth month, 1711, she was concerned 
to go into Ireland to visit friends, and went and 
landed at Dublin in the same month, accompanied 
with Anne Chapman, of America ; and they visited 
several meetings in and about the city of Dublin^ 
and so passed towards the north of that nation, and 
being taken ill with a strong fever, was forced to 
keep her bed \ but after the fit was somewhat 
Z6 



540 PIETY PROMOTED. 

abated, a meeting being appointed for them, she 
"was very desirous to go, and did : and the Lord 
was pleased eminently to appear with her, to friends 
mutual joy and comfort; but she went no -more 
abroad* the small -pox soon coming out upon her. 
Then she expressed herself, saying, * Lord Jesus, 
'my spirit waits thy coming; my soul waits for 
1 thee, my Redeemer. O Lord God Almighty, 
' thou surely hast prepared for me a habitation in 

* the heavens witli thee. Thou it is that makest me 

* sensible, that here I am not to stay much longer. 
' O Lord, I feel at this time thy great love and 

* heavenly spring of life to refresh and comfort my 
4 soul : into thy arms (for thou knowest it is that 
4 that I have travailed for) I am ready : Lord, and 
' thou hast given me to know that my soul is ready 

* to enter into thy everlasting kingdom. And, 
1 O Lord, for this thy great mercy, in affording thy 

* servant this opportunity, I do at this time, in all 

* reverent thankfulness, bless and praise thy most 

* holy name, who art surely worthy for ever- 
4 more.' 

She departed this life at Colerain, on the 2oth 
of the Fifth month, 171 1 ; aged about Thirty 5 
and a minister three years. 



JOSEPH STONE, jun. of Witney, in Oxfordshire, 
" born in the Sixth month, 1683, and descended of 
honest parents. He was educated by them in the 
way of friends, and was well inclined when young ; 
and by the early visitations of the grace of God 
upon his heart he embraced the yoke of Christ in 
his youth, and as he was taught of his Saviour himself, 
to eschew the evil, and to do good, he was the 
more fit to be a messenger to carry the glad tidings 
of salvation to others, and to make known to them 



PIETY PROMOTED. 541 

•what the Lord had done for his soul;; yet this work 
he could not undertake, until it pleased the great 
Lord of the harvest to gift him for it, which was in 
the year 1703: in which work he laboured, ac- 
cording to the ability he received ; by whose ministry 
the seed and heritage of God was often refreshed ; 
for the springing of love from the spirit of God in 
one, will certainly answer to the same divine prin- 
ciple in others, and fix it as an evidence upon their 
hearts,, that it is the truth. He was also exemplary 
in conversation, and of an innocent deportment* 
He loved solitariness, choosing to be much alone s 
and approved himself a faithful servant and minister 
of Christ : he was zealous for promoting the honour 
of God, labouring in word and doctrine for that 
end, not only in the neighbouring meetings about 
him, but also in several counties in this nation : 
he had a great concern upon him, that he might be 
instrumental in the Lord's hand, for the turning the 
hearts of the children of men from darkness to 
light, and from the power of satan unto God. In 
his testimony he was concerned for the hindermost 
of the flock ; in prayer fervent for the offspring of 
friends, that they might come to witness the grace 
of God to save them from a vain conversation ; 
for he knew,, that though he had his education 
amongst friends, yet it was not that alone that did 
make him what he was, but the grace of God, as 
he gave up ta be guided thereby ; and because of 
his experience, which he gained in yielding to the 
guidance of the spirit of truth, he was the more 
frequent in exhorting the youth of our day, to seek 
the Lord in their early days •, agreeable to the voice 
of wisdom, who advised the same of old. 

He writ a short account of his call to the ministry, 
with some of his labours and travels therein 5 as also 
the comfort and satisfaction he reaped in his service 
for truth, as follows : 



542 PIETT PROMOTED. 

* After it pleased God, in the riches of his love, 
c to bestow on me a gift of the ministry, and by his 
' grace to cull me to, and qualify me for the same, 
"Which was in the Ninth month, 1703, I was 
1 obedi«1t to the heavenly call, and gave up freely 

* (but not forwardly) to the same. And after some 
1 time, I visited some neighbouring meetings in 

* some parts of Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Glou- 
i Cestershire and Oxfordshire. And in the year 
■ 1707 I went down to the yearly meeting at 
' Bristol, and then returned home again, where I re- 

* manual three years, visiting some neighbouring 

* meetings, and one journey to London. But having 
4 a concern to visit friends in the west, which rested 

* upon me till the year 1710, and then I gave up 
4 ami went, though not likely to have a companion 
4 hut part of the journey, which was as followeth. 
(Abstracted;) 

On the 4th of the Fifth month, 17 10, he left his 
habitation at Witney, and went (southward) to 
Abingdon quarterly-meeting, where he met with his 
friends, John and Thomas Wagstafte, who accom- 
panied him part of his journey, where they left him, 
and returned, he pursuing his journey to the Lands- 
end ; from whence he returned, visiting friends 
thruugh the counties till he got home, which was on 
the 30th of the Sixth month. 

* And I had a very satisfactory journey, for the 

* Lord was with me, and was to me mouth and 

* wisdom, language and utterance •, blessed be his 

* glorious name for ever. And his divine presence, 
4 and giorious power was prevailing in our meetings \ 
1 for I had many glorious and heavenly meetings in 
4 this journey to my great satisfaction and comfort, 
' and to the comfort and edification of the Lord's 

* people. 

4 rvnd it is the desire of my soul, that the con- 

* sideration of the Lord's love and goodness, may be 



PIETY PROMOTED. 543 

* a binding obligation to us, for ever to walk in true 
' humiiity and self-denial before him. The people 
' who were not acquainted with the work of truth, 
' were free and willing to come to our meetings in 

* those parts, and were very attentive to the tes- 
' timony of truth, and seemed to be well affected 
? with it, many of them appearing very tender in 
f meetings ; so that I believe the Lord will add to 
c his church such as shall be saved, and will more 
( and more bring people off from the idle shepherds 
' of this world (who feed themselves and not the 
( flock) and will bring them under the guidance and 
' conduct of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the 

* everlasting Shepherd, who watches over his flock 
c both night and day, and feeds them in green pas- 
c tures of life, and leads them by the still waters of 
s Shiloh's brooks, and will at last bring them to the 
c everlasting fold of rest. 

* Oh ! that all that profess the blessed truth might 

* be faithful to him, that so they might preach for 

* God in their lives and conversations, and so be- 

* come instrumental in the hand of God, to the 
' carrying on that great work which he hath begun 

* in the earth, which must be compleated by the 

* spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning. 

The 7th of the Fourth month, 1.711. 

J, stone, jun.' 

And in the Sixth month following he had a con- 
cern to visit friends westward again, and went so 
far as Cirencester, in Gloucestershire *, but being 
taken very ill, he returned back again to his father's 
house at Witney, and his illness increasing upon 
him proved him sorely ; yet he continued in much 
resignedness to the will of God, and signified that 
people had not need have their day's work to do then, 
for there was work enough to bear up under the pain 



544 PIETY PROMOTED. 

of body ; and desired Samuel Waring to remember 
his love to all friends. And in an evening, as he 
sat by him, he signified that he did not know how 
the Lord would be pleased to deal with him; but 
for the sake of his dear parents, and others, to 
whom he might be of service, he should be glad 
if the Lord should see meet to spare him ; but he 
freely resigned his will to the will of God. But 
before he parted with him, he told him he was 
going, and that all was well, all was well, twice ; 
and desired all to go out of the room, except him, 
to whom he said, ■ I have seen the glory of heaven, 

* and it is a brave place ;' and could make his appeal 
to the Lord, and say, ' O Lord, thou knowest how 
'I have walked before thee, and served thee;* he 
having that assurance in his own bosom could say, 
and call death sweet, because by that he * passed 
' out of this house of clay into the mansions of 

When he had been ill a few days, he said to them 
about him, • This is ordered for my end, and it will 
' be well with me, my soul shall go to rest.' One 
that was with him, said, * How did he know but the 

* Lord might raise him up again V He answered, 
1 A man that lived a righteous life he believed often 

* knew a little before-hand how it would be with 
' him/ His nurse wishing those present were as fit 
to die as he, he answered, ' I thank God I have 
( nothing to do but to die, all the world is nothing 

* to me, I have done with it.' But adding, his care 
was a little for his dear father and mother, and 
sister and her children, saying, how would they do 
without him ; for indeed he was very assistant to 
them. Another time he said, * When I am gone 
€ hence, I shall receive a new name.* At another 
time he sent for his father, mother and sister, to 
take his leave of them : his father asked him how he 
did ; he said, * Very bad} 5 and asking him what he 



PIETY PROMOTED. 545 

had to say to him, he answered, ■ Farewell, farewell, 
* farewell/ Then his mother and sister went, and 
his sister asked him how he did ; he answered, it 
will be well with me, and that he was not afraid to 
die; he did not fear death if it was that minute. 
And so departed this life the 30th of the Sixth 
month, 171 1, and left a good savour and blessed 
memory behind him. He was a dutiful son, a kind 
brother, a faithful friend, and a good neighbour, 
He left a small treatise behind him, in manuscript, 
intituled, ' A Call to the Disobedient.' And some 
other papers. 

He was buried at friends bi'ryirtg-ground, at Wit- 
ney, at which were many friends and others. 

Aged Twenty-eight years *, and a minister about 
eight. 



"VTARY, the wife of JOHN TURNER, at Totten- 
•*■*■*■ ham High Cross, in the county of Middlesex,. 
was the third daughter of (that remarkable sufferer for 
the testimony of a good conscience) Richard Vickris, 
of Chew-Magna, in Somersetshire, deceased, and 
Elizabeth his wife, daughter to that ancient worthy, 
George Bishop, of Bristol. In her tender years, 
by the grace of God, through the care of her re* 
ligious parents, she was instructed in, and seasoned 
with the principles of the holy truth, as professed 
by the people called Quakers •, in which she con- 
tinued faithful, and was an example of piety and 
virtue, through the course of her life. 

When a little child, our much esteemed friend 
William Penn coming in at her father's (where he 
was very conversant) and affected with her pretty 
innocent deportment, brake forth, extempore,, in 
this rapture: 



546 PIETY PROMOTED/ 

S\veet soul ! what makes thee stray 

From the angelic way ? 
Was it to teaeh us how to love 
The happy regions above ?, 
Ii so, O! let thy wand'ring prove our gain, 
And take us with thee back again. 

She was naturally of a lively ant! cheerful temper, 
which remained when she came to years of discretion, 
yet took pleasure in frequent retirement, and divine 
meditation, in meetings for Worship and religious 
conversation, and received worthy public firiel vis 
with great comfort and satisfaction. When at home 
alone, she entertained herself chiefly in reading the 
boto scriptures, frien Is' writings, and the three first 
books of Thomas a Kempis, of the Imitation of 
Christ j at other times with her pen or needle ; for 
it was rare to find her unemployed in something 
useful or necessary, when her health permitted. Irk 
her drees and apparel she was very neat and plain. 
The tenderness of her love and affection to her 
husband, mothers, brother and sisters, was more 
than common, and very remarkable, and likewise 
so generally extended to her acquaintance, especially 
where truth had a prevalency, that it may be said, 
love predominated in her. 

A few years before her death, she was sensible 
of a gradual decay of bodily strength, and when 
weakness and faintness prevailed, she bore it with 
much patience and resignation to God's holy will. 
In a sense of the uncertainty of the comforts here 
below, she wrote thus to a near friend : 

• The enjoyments of this life appear very change- 
' able, and we are apt to seek them more than is 
' good for us, which hinders our inward comfort : 

* so we have something to war against every day. — I 

* I desire thou mayst be directed by that divine hand 



PIETY PROMOTED. 547 

' which orders all things for our good every way, 

* as w v e have an eye to it.' 

And in another to a relation : * I am very sensible 
1 of my happiness, — and desire to walk worthy of 
' the mercies I enjoy ; yet the want of my health has 

* been an affliction to me : but I do not repine at 

* that, since it is an advantage to us to have some 

* alloy to the comforts of this life, which are mostly 
c attended with disappointments of one kind or 
6 other.' 

On her bed of sickness she said to her brother, 
she admired people should so much place their 
affections on the things of this world, which are but 
as dross, and like travelling in misery \ and earnestly 
desired their family might, with Jacob, obtain a 
blessing \ and as they had such worthy parents, who 
had educated them in the ways of truth, and enjoy- 
ed so many favours beyond many others, there 
ought to be a double thankfulness to the giver. 
And desired her brother to be a comfort to their 
tender mother, and to keep up their honourable 
father's name, as one of the branches of the family, 
and then there would be a blessing laid up for him. 

Speaking to her sisters, she said, ' We should be 

* good examples in the plainness of our habits, as 
1 we make profession of the principle of truth, and 
' should take up the cross daily ; for we were not 

* born to serve ourselves, but to honour the Lord t 

* that pain and weakness were hard to bear; and 
' when we are going out of the world, we had need 
1 to have nothing then to do : that she waited for 

* the presence of the Lord, in which was more 

* pleasure than in all the joys of this world/ Then ! 
turning to one of them, said, c The Lord hath done 
<: great things for thee, and may have a work for 

( thee to do ; there is good seed sown in thy heart, 
' and I desire the Lord will bless thee." 

Having been tendered ^n her spirit, some friends 



548 PIETY PROMOTED. 

came to visit her, and prayed with her-, whereupon 
she said, she saw the Lord had not forsaken her, 
but sent his servants to visit her, which was a great 
comfort to her. 

Another time one of her sisters coming into the 
room, * G Btater,' said she, ' the old accuser of the 
•brethren lies very near, but the Lord's, hand is 
' underneath, and sweetly supports.' 

Some days after, the same sister being by her bed- 
side, she had an extraordinary concern fur her own 
welfare and her near relations, saying, ■ Dear sister, 
1 I luwo a Stedfast Lope, but not yet a full assurance. 

* I desire ihte, pray earnestly for mc lest there 
' should be any thing committed by me,. that may be 

* slipped out of my remembrance,, and I not earnest 

Ugh with the Lord for forgiveness : and I also 
' pr.i\ for you all, that you may come 

* where 1 hope to be *, and for my dear husband' 
1 Jikevrise I I her great care, that not 
one of tiie famil) ought be lost. 

Another of her sisters, leaving her a little time, 
desired the Lord would support her under her weak- 
ness, she answered, * He hath, and I believe will •/ 
and seemed comfortably resigned in her spirit. 

A few hours before her departure she desired to 
be raised in her bed, on which she seemed as if she 
should have passed away, and bid all farewell ; but 
reviving, said, * I thought I had been going, but the 
1 Lord hath given me life from the pangs of death, 

* praised be his name : oh ! praises be to the Lord, 

* he hath given me a little ease.' 

Her fear was so great of offending the Lord, that 
perceiving some disposition to slumber, she said to 
her mother, then near her, ' Dost think he will be 
4 angry if I should drop asleep ?' 

Some time after, being moved again, she seemed 
refreshed, and lay in a sweet frame of mind, praising 
the Lord, saying, * Lord, thou art merciful, com- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 549 

* passionate and true. Thou hast given me ease : 

* oh ! I will praise thy name at all times, from time 

* to time ; every hour, every minute while I live I 
c will praise thee.' Being in great pain, she said to 
some that were near her, * He will give me ease by 

* and by;' and earnestly prayed to the Lord for it 
after this manner : ' Dear Lord, give me ease : 

* sweet Lord Jesus, give me ease ; ' and then said to 
her sister, he would. Her sister said, she did not 
doubt but the Lord would answer her desire, and 
give her a full assurance \ to which she answered, 

* I believe he will/ Then she desired those by her 
to pray for her. 

Having slumbered a little, she awoke refreshed, 
and looking on one of her sisters, she said to her, 

* Dear sister, I shall do well, I shall do well/ 
After which she was heard very sweetly in prayer to 
the Lord to receive her ; and was sensible to the last. 

Toward the conclusion of her days, her weakness 
was attended with such faintness and pain, some- 
times, that made her apprehensive it would be very 
hard to bear the struggles of her final dissolution, 
which she frequently begged of the Lord to make 
easy ; and he was pleased to answer her desires 
accordingly ; for she passed hence almost without 
sigh, groan, or any visible alteration of countenance. 

She departed this life at Tottenham aforesaid, on 
the 31st of the Sixth month, 1711, and was de- 
cently interred in friends' burying-ground in Bunhill- 
fields, at London, on the 5th day of the Seventh 
month following, about the Thirty-third year of 
her age. 



5so PIETY PROMOTED. 

An Acrostic and Meditations , by R. Ciaridge. 

M y gracious God was in his love most free, 
A nd it renewed plenteously to me ; 
R efreshing oft with his life-giving streams, 
Y ea, daily darting in celestial beams, 

T hat fielded saving light and quickning heat 
IT nto my soul : his love was wond'rous great ! 
R espect I had unto his righteous ways, 
N umb'ring the minutes 01 my fleeting days j 
E terr.ity being still before mine eyes, 
R an I, through Christ, the race, and won the 
glorious prize. 



Meditation* on the Christian Life and Death of 
Mary Turner* 

She's gone from hence ! Who could but shed a tear, 
That knew her Christian conversation here, 
And's truly sensible what 'tis to be 
Deprived of such heavenly company ? 
But since no tears can her to us restore, 
In stillness let's the divine will adore, 
Within due bounds our flowing passions keep, 
And not like ooisy hopeless mourners weep ; 
Having good grounds to hope she's gone to rest 
"With righteous souls, in Christ for ever blest. 
Let's then her holy, Christian life review,, 
And pay what tribute's to such virtue due. 
She early bow'd to the great teacher, truth, 
Christ's yoke embracing in her tender youth. 
Self she deny'd, took up her daiiy cross, 
Made that her gain, which many counted loss. 
The rod she heard, whilst in her house of day, 
And lov'd it, 'cause it scourg'd her dross away. 



PIETY PROMOTED. SS i 

Its strokes receiving with submissive mind, 
And with a will in all to God's resign'd. 
Her faith, hope, love y patience, humility, 
Her meekness, goodness, silence, modesty, 
Shone bright i' rh' orb, where Providence her plac'dj 
And the whole sex her good example grac'd : 
For she irntruth and years together grew, 
Leaving some equals, but superiors few. 

May learners match the pattern, and be all 
True copiers of so fair original i 
Which from above descending, thither is 
Returned, triumphing in eternal bliss. 



npHOMAS DOCKERY, late of Silverdale, was 
-*- born in Cumberland, near Portinscall, brought 
up a scholar, andTwas reader at Withburne Chapel, 
in that county ; and being a sober young man, and 
having inclinations in his heart after the true wor- 
ship of God, which is spiritual, it pleased the Al- 
mighty to open his understanding, and to shew him 
the mysteries of the kingdom of life and salvation, 
"and the emptiness of the ways, forms and traditions 
of the world, and the evil gf them, wherein he had 
been amongst many others. And he was concerned 
in love, to go to their public places of worship, and 
bear a testimony against them ; and what wages he 
formerly had received for reading, as aforesaid, he 
carried back and left it with the people, and told 
them they were the v/ages of unrighteousness, for 
which he could not keep them. 

Now being joined in society with friends, he grew 
in the truth, and became very instrumental in the 
service of the gospel, for the confirming, of friends 
in the faith, and information of such as opposed 
truth and friends. 

After some time he was drawn forth, (in the love 






552 PIETY PROMOTED. 

of God) to visit friends' meetings in England, Scot- 
land and Ireland : five times he visited friends in 
Scotland, and three times in Ireland ; and at his re- 
turns had great peace and satisfaction. 

Once at Aberdeen, in Scotland, the envious 
priests incensed the magistrates against friends, and 
he was put in prison, and remained r*.ere about 
three months j but the Lord's love and presence he 
enjoyed therein, and great was his peace ; for he 
experienced the Lord's power to preserve him, and 
the truth was set over his persecutors, and they set 
him at liberty* 

Then he returned into Cumberland, and abode 

there a considerable time ; and from thence went to 

Swarthmore, in Lancashire, and continued several 

.t--r.il times accompanied G. Fox to 

London, and elsewhere, in the service of the gospel. 

In the year 1683, he settled in Silvcrdale, in Lan- 
cashire, and belonged to Yelland meeting, and con- 
tinued a member of the said meeting above twenty- 
seven years, being a diligent attender thereof; not- 
withstanding he was weak and infirm in body for 
several years before he died, yet was frequent in 
testimony, to the edification of friends, and the 
understandings of others. 

lie was exemplary in humility and lowliness of 
mind, lived in peace and unity with friends, and 
was well esteemed amongst his neighbours. And 
when his outward strength e'id decay, that he grew 
weaker in body, he was always content, and after 
he took to his bed he continued several weeks, (not 
being much afflicted with pain) the Lord dealing 
gently with him ; yet he grew weaker and weaker ; 
and when asked how he did, replied, ' Very weakly, 
' but well content to die, and be removed to eternal 
' rest with the Lord, whom I have served ; which 
• is new to me gjreat satisfaction and content.' 

He continue I very quiet in his mind, and sensible 



FIETT PROMOTED. 553 

to the last, and as he had lived in peace and un'ty 
with friends, he died in the same the 6th of the 
Tenth month, 171 1, and was buried at friends* 
burying-place at Yelland, the 8th day of the said 
month, about the Eightieth year of his age, and a 
minister of the gospel fifty years. 



MARY, daughter of BENJAMIN POST, and 
ELIZABETH his wife, of London, was of a 
tender spirit, sober behaviour, religiously inclined, 
and a lover of plainness in habit and speech, -and 
kept to k , but a disliker of pride and finery- in 
apparel. When she was but about eight years of 
age, at a neighbour's house who desired her com- 
pany (being solid and grave] and the said neighbour 
having a daughter about fifteen years of age, who 
loved this child well, to whom this child said, 
c Anna, what signify these fine things thou hast on, 

* they will not carry thee to heaven. 5 To which 
Anna answered, ' Pride is not in the things, it is 

* in the heart.' To which the child replied, ' But if 
1 your minds (i. e. those that wore them) Were not 

* proud, you would not wear them.' — She also sig- 
nified to her mother, that she much wondered at the 
great pride she observed in some young ones who 
professed truth, saying, c I hope I shall be never 

* like them/ Her mother thereupon said to her, 
' I hope thou wilt never be like them ; hut be an 

* orderly child, that thou mayst be in favour with 
e God.' At which she wept, and said, * If I should 
' love fine things, I must alter much : what signify 
i fine things when folks come to die ?' 

Hearing some boys in the street taking God's 
name in vain, she said, ' They take God's name in 
'vain enough to fright one.' She also said she 
should delight to 2:0 to meetings. 

• Vol. I. 2 A t 



55 4- PIETY PROMOTED. 

The day before bL ken ill, her mother 

ing her out on an and her brother being 

j come out of the country, red him to 

go with her, which h • refused ; at which she stood 
by him a while, and then with a solid countenance 

may be, the 

* time thou comest 1 not have a Bister 
1 to go with ,' as if she had a sense of her death. 

And in her , which war, violent con- 

4 c ) dear Lord, if* thou 

• lit, give me a little ease :' and lifting up her 

hands repeated such like expressions, and said, * I 

* had rather die than live •, through mercy I am 

* not afraid to die — I shall go to restj where I shall 
1 feel no more pain.' 

lkr mother Standing moirrning by her, the child 

looking upon her said, * Mother, do not cry, let us 

nted -, the Lord , and he 

' can rai.>e me again ; if I were dead he can raise me 

I :' — then she repented as before, ' O dear 

1 i : :, if thou seest lit or convenient, give me a 

* little ea . ied earnest to the and go to 

Her mother said to her, ' My dear, why art 

, the Lord can ease thee 

give thee life?' She answered, 

' One must once 1 if I recover, I must (or 

j and I had rather die while I 

1 am young ; if I should live till I am older, the 

4 devil may tempt me to be naught, and I might 

* offend tire Lord. I am not afraid to die, through 
i mercy I shall go to my rest -,' and said, * If I live 

* I am satined, and if I die I am satisfied. I am 
c willing to die, I had rather die than live.' — Her 
mother said, ' I shall dearly miss thee.' She replied, 
4 I am willing to see my little sister, (which was at 
' nurse) and her brother;' and he was at school ia 
the country. And her mother said she would send 
for them : * But' said the mother, ' if any alteration 



PIETY PROMOTED. 555 

* should be before thy brother come, what wouldst 

* thou say to him ?' she replied, ' If I can speak, I 
c will bid him be a good boy, and fear God, that 

* he may go to God Almighty/ She left him the 
little money she had, and some other things to her 
father, mother and two sisters . 

Her mother desiring her to take something (as 
she had before done) that was prepared for her, she 
seemed to refuse, and said, ' What signify doctors 
5 and apothecaries, if the Lord please to take 

* one's Ife.' 

A little before her end she lamented folks taking 
pleasure, and not considering the love of God; 
and the last words she was heard to speak were* 
' Dear Lord God Almighty open the door.' And 
so sweetly departed this life, the 12th of the 
Eleventh month, 1 7 1 1 . Aged above Eight years. 



"OICHARD PRIESTMAN, of Coldbeck, in the 
*■ county of Cumberland, was descended of honest 
parents > his father received truth early, and finished 
in the same, fend his son, the said Richard Priestman, 
was educated in the way thereof ; yet was at a want 
till he found truth in himself, and came to know the 
work of it in his heart, and came to be faithful 
thereto : and in due time, the Lord, whom he loved, 
was pleased to give him a gift of the ministry, 
whereby he became a minister of the gospel, and 
declared to others what great things God had done 
for him. 

And though he was not large in testimony, yet 
his ministry was edifying, comforting the weak 
travellers, who were on their way towards Zion. 
often supplicating the Lord for the preservation of 
his people, and that he would be pleased to con- 
tinue his love and kindness towards them, 
2 A 2 



556 PIETY PROMOTED. 

lie laboured to keep pe.ice, and things in 01 

-where his inst that which 

I to division and scattering; he walked in the 

fear of the Lord, with fervent de-ires in his heart to 

•• G I, that he would be pleased to ^i*; 

him strength, that hr might be preserved in well- 

, and kept stedfast in the faith, which pjver- 

HTOrld, unto tli" cv.d of hi i 

In the time of his s , I ; 

up to his gqeat coi cj i I 

him, to whom he expressed the comfort he felt in 
his b 

An I • more 

in his inward man, and 
woul : 

the L mind the 

U need not 

ith the like 
ions, 1 many 

, * ] 

when 
.-. i ! have < . 
1 to do t delay, and 

1 ]:.v. at last :' — 

with them, and 

was much refreshed in spirit in having such on- 
portunir 

The night before he departed this life, he called 

ell of 
them, and said, ' Keep to truth, and -do justly, and 
4 do to every one as you would they should do to 
1 you ; and the Lord will bless you, and keep you 
' from evil.' 

He finished his course in perfect unity with the 
brethren, the 23d of the Eleventh month, 1711. 



PIETY PROMOTED 557 

^WILLIAM RIGG, of Cclthouse, near Ha wk- 
* shead, in the county of Lancaster, received 

truth in the year 167,2,,: being the Thirty-sixth year 
of his age. 

A little after he received a gift e£ the ministry, 
in which he was faithful, and endowed with a good 
understanding, in the mysteries of the kingdom of 
God, and had a clear and sound testimony, and 
travelled much in the work of the ministry, both irt 
this nation and in Scotland,, although he was a very 
tender bodied man, and troubled with a sore cough 
for msny years ; it was his delight to be speaking of 
the things of God, and the mysteries of his kingdom, 
to the refreshing of many. 

And towards his latter end was attended with 
great weakness of. body,, so that he could not get to 
the meeting, or scarce out of doors for many weeks, 
which he did bear with great patience, and to the 
great comfort and refreshment of many that came to 
see him. 

- He was of a clean life and conversation, which 
answered his testimony. 

In the time of his weakness he waited patiently 
for his dissolution, and often said, c I have done my 

* day's w r ork in the cay time, to my great peace and 
1 satisfaction, and have nothing to do but to die, 
' and put off this earthly tabernacle, being well 

* assured of my eternal rest with the Lord :' into 
which, no doubt, he is entered. - 

He died the 29th day of the Second month, 1712 j 
aged Seventy-six, and a minister about forty years. 



2 A3 



5S 8 PIETY PROMOTED. 

V^AMUEL GEORGE, of the parish of Landewy- 
'- brevy, in Cardiganshire, lived there with his 
parents till he was about Twenty-one years of age. 
In which place the excellent truth, being despised 
by many, had not that place and dominion in the 
hearts of the people, which it ought to have; and 
he was careless, like others, going on in the broad 
.\ ay, playing and sporting therein, and unconcerned 
For the everlasting welfare of his poor soul. But 
now the Lord met with him in his prime of youth, 
■\ his ears, and sealed instruction to him in a 
dream, or vision of the night, as he lay slumbering 
upon his bed ; in which dream, cr vision, he thought 
he was going to hear (that called) divine service, and 
saw a man winnowing corn, which seemed to him 
to be good and sound, but when raised to the wind, 
it was blown and scattered away, like white chaff 
toward the north : and as he looked behind him, he 
saw a man who asked him, whether he knew what 
thai mcancd ? he answered, no. Then said the" 
man, the chaff represents ungodly men, who are as 
the chaff which the wind driveth away. By this, 
and other dreams and visions which he had, he 
came under a concern of mind, and cried out, 
f What shall I do to be saved ? * then it pleased the 
Lord, in his infinite love and mercy, so to visit the 
heart of this young man, that he came to know the 
Lord, and was made willing to bear the indignation 
of God because he had sinned against him. And 
the Lord by his invisible power wrought his de-- 
liverance, notwithstanding he suffered him to be 
tried many ways, and when under great and deep, 
exercises, both inwardly and outwardly, the Lord 
was pleased by his hand to help him in the time of 
need, of which he was greatly sensible, and ex- 
perienced the great truth the holy prophet of old 
declared, c That Zion shall be redeemed with judg- 
* mint, and her converts with righteousness ;' ai- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 559 

though he had been ready to think no one was 
exercised like him. 

He often used retirement, and in the night-season, 
and at other times, he waited upon the Lord, 
pouring out his^soul in supplication, and fervently- 
prayed unto him in secret ; and the Lord rewarded 
him openly, and many times gave him the oil of joy 
for mourning. 

On the 26th of the Sixth month, 171 1, the Lord 
opened his mouth' to declare in his power, and to 
bear his testimony against unfaithfulness and dis- 
obedience to the Lord. And the Lord made him 
also sensible, and gave him a sight his time was but 
short to work in his vineyard: so (although his 
service was heavy and hardj he laboured diligently. 

About six months after, he travelled and visited 
friends at their meetings in Radnorshire ; and about 
two months after he did the like in several counties, 
as Merionethshire, and Montgomeryshire. And 
when he had eased his' mind, and finished his 
service for the Lord in those parts, he returned 
home. 

In a little time after he went to the yearly- 
meeting of Wales, at Kanidos in Montgomeryshire, 
and after his return had but three meetings \ the 
last was the 4th of the Third month, 17 12, where 
many people came in, and he in great tenderness to 
those who had true desires in their hearts after the 
Lord, preached unto them in much love and fervency, 
and his words and doctrine were as the dew falling 
on the tender grass j and afterwards, in great con- 
cern of spirit, and in trembling, he thundered against 
the light, airy, and hard-hearted ones, who -slighted 
and reproached the truth and its followers, and 
speak evil of that they knew not, telling them, the 
Lord would plead with such in his righteous judg- 
ments ; and he ~ exhorted them to repent speedily, 
lest the Lord should cut them off in his fierce anger. 
2A4 



560 PIETY PROMOTED. 

On the sixth of the Third month following, it 

pleased the Lord to visit this zealous young man 

with an indisposition of body, and a voice run 

through him, ' Put thy house in order, for thou 

i die.' And lie declared lie was willing to give 

i to the Lord, to depose of him as seemed good 

;:i his sight. And feeling the Lord's power over 

all, hi- heart Was refreshed, and he declared, " Blessed 

the dead that die in the Lord, from henceforth ;. 

i, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their 

our, and their works follow them." And 

J Li . brother, John George, (who gives this 

things should not be forgotten 

.I to the ground; and bid his said brother 

•, adding, if he and friends 

faithful, the Lord would be their helper 

>nt support, 
rwards he called for his parents, and spoke 

. ' I do not expect to recover from 
'this sickness, but be not over-much concerned; 
1 for I have peace with God, and had rather, if it 
the Lord's will, die than live any longer:' 
and desired them to prize their time, and seriously 
ler how precious a thing it was to know peace 
with God their maker on a dying-bed. And he 
valiantly bore his testimony for the precious truth in 
their presence, and shewed the barrenness of men- 
made ministers, who plead for sin and imperfection : 
advising his parents to beware of hindering any of 
their children (his brothers or sisters) from coming 
into the way of truth ; and desired them rather to 
encourage them therein : and exhorted his parents, 
saying, i Give up all, that you may have an in- 
' heritance in that kingdom wherein there is no 
* trouble nor sorrow, but eternal joy and peace.' 
He likewise exhorted his brothers and sisters to be 
faithful to that which the Lord had made known 
to them of his will. He ofcen heartily prayed for 



PIETY PROMOTED.. 561. 

them r*nto Almighty God, that none of them who 
Had turned their faces Sion-ward^ might look back 
into the world again, but might all press forward. 

Some days before his departure he fervently said, 
c Remember my love in Christ Jesus unto all my 
'* faithful friends and brethren in the incorruptible 
'seed; to which seed the- promise is, and wherein 
c ' peace and acceptance with God are livingly known/ 

He finished his course here the 18th of the 
Third month, 171 2; aged Twenty-five -years, and • 
a: minister about nine months. 



TOHN AYRRY, belonging to Sedberg meetfng, 
** in the county of York, was convinced of the- 
b'lessed truth, as professed by the people called 
Quakers, about the Twenty-ninth year of his agey 
and was of an innocent life and good conversation, 
and faithful in every branch of his testimony relating 
to- truth. 

And it pleased tile Lord 'to commit unto him a 
dispensation of the gospel and part in the ministry. 
And although' he was not large in testimony, yet" 
had the movmgs of life upon him, which made- his- 
offering acceptable to friends. 

And as he lived a harmless and innocent life 3 s 
so when- he came to be tried with much bodily 
weakness, which attended him for several months 
before he died, he bore it -with* much- patience,- and 
was very sweet in his spirit, and often said unto ■ 
friends, J It is a precious thing to wait upon God,, 
i to feel his life, power and presence to quickemand 
' raise U5 up to praise his powerful name, who is - 
' worthy for ever.' 

He departed this life - the 15th of the* Fourth : 
month, 1 712, in the Sixty-ninth year of his age* - 
He was one that held out unto the end, and partook 



562 PIETY PROMOTED. 

of the salvation of Cod through the Lord Jesus 
Christ, 



T3EREGRIN MUSGRAVE was born at Lanynn, 
-*- in the parish of Lanynarth, and county of 
Cardigan, the 4th of the First month, 1643. He 
was by trade a clothier, and of good repute among 
men \ and the Lord endued him with wisdom and 
understanding! whereby he was very serviceable in 
the church, especially in meetings of business and 
the care of the poor : and great concern was upon 
him, that friends might be preserved in love and 

j and where be saw any thing that tended to 
the breach thereof, he earnestly laboured to put 
a Stop to ir, both at home, and in the adjacent 
counties. His heart and house were open to friends, 
and he had great delight in the conversation of 
faithful brethren ; and it is not doubted but he laid 
down his head in peace with the Lord, and he 
himself signified the same in the time of his 
sickness. In which time his wife and daughters 

g in the room by him, and seeing him so weak, 
his daughter wept; he hearing her, said, ' Susanna, 
4 Susanna, make no noise for me: what would you 

* children have ? your father hath lived to a good 
« old age, and I die in peace with my God, and 
1 in credit with men 5 I leave no stink behind me, 
1 which is a mercy to you beyond many children. 
1 I desire you to be satisfied, and give me freely up, 
c and let your concern be inward: 5 adding, * I want 

* to see thy brother and his wife, and thy husband, 

* that I may ease my mind to them.' 

Then he asked if it was day \ his daughter said, 
4 It is not. 5 He said, * Call thy brother and his 

* wife.' AVhen he came, he said, ' Lewis, I find 
' this distemper come so hard, that I am not like to 
« continue long ;' so gave him good advice in many 



PIETY PROMOTED. 563 

words, and withal desired him to keep close to meet- 
ings, and not forget week-day meetings ', and to 
mind truth, which would adorn them above all ; and 
said, ■ Be serviceable to friends, and stand a man in 

* my place. My dear Lewis, remember what I say, 
1 live in love : you are a pretty many relations here, 

* if you keep your places and live in love, you may 
4 be a comfort one to another/ So called for his 
daughter in law, and took leave of them, and said, 
■ I pray God bless you and your poor babes : I desire 

* you, be tender of them in bringing them up/ Then 
he kissed them and said, ' I have not much more to 

* say.' So continued very sensible all the day, and 
often said, c Dear God, I pray thee make my pas- 

* sage easy y and said, c the love of God is more to 
me now than all the world.' He took leave also of 
his neighbours and friends, and seemed to be cheer- 
ful and willing to die. He departed as if he had 
been going to sleep, and was very sensible to the 
last, which was the 14th of the Fifth month, 17 12. 
And this worthy old man was honourably and de- 
cently interred at East-hookit the 16th of the Fifth 
month, 1 7 12. Aged Sixty-nine years, 



JOSHUA ARNOLD, of Whittington, in the 
*^ county of Derby, v/as educated in the blessed 
truth amctfig the people called Quakers, and by occu- 
pation a carpenter, and much employed by the great 
men, being just and honest in his dealing, moderate 
and temperate in his life, and in his conversation 
Christian and exemplary •, so that therein he preached 
to professors and prcphane, being faithful to the 
witness of God in his own heart, he answered it in 
others. 

And the Lord, who made him what he was, at 
times was pleased to open his mouth in the assem- 
2A 6 



564 PIETY PROMOTED. 

biles of his people, that lie, in .1 sense of the ^od- 
-f God, did bear witness thereto 9 and in true- 
he exhorted friends to watchfulness, and to 
keep their conversation clean, and void of offence 
d G< d and 1 \n, and to dwell tn that which 
d keep them humble, and ever to avoid pride 
2nd covetousness ; and to wait patiently for the ap- 
pearing of the Lord, and to hear his Still small voice 
in their own hearts* and for the arising of life, that 
they might be taught, kept and preserved thereby ; 
<>o th.it they might bring v.o reproach upon die holy 
truth they | 

This was th esire of this godly man, 

who was h \ ample, both to the great 

men with whom he was concerned", and to his fa- 
mily, friends, and all he conversed with : in mode- 
ration, plainness}] and the fear of God he lived, and 
thereby gained a good report and the love of many. 

He took opportunities to wait upon the Lord in 
silence in his family; and many times the Lord was 
pleased to take such notice of them in those retire- 
ments, as to break in upon his children, and mani- 
his I Avcrful presence to the edifying and en-- 
cpuraging them and the whole family, to take up 
the cross of Christ and follow him. 

And in a sense of the vanities of this world, he 
said, some years before he died, he was willing to 
leave it ; and did often advise his family to be hum- 
ble and lowly in their minds, and to love the truth, 
which he recommended as the best portion to his; 
children, 

About two years before his departure he was 
much afflicted with lameness and weakness, by reason 
of the pal-y, that had attended him some years be- 
fore ; so that he was confined to his room, and 
seemed not likely to recover : and then he advised 
his family both in spirituals and temporals-, but he 
so far recovered that he could go to meetings, and 



PIETY PROMOTED. 5^65 

did, till it pleased the Lord to visit him with a return 
ef his distemper so suddenly., that His dying words 
were but few ; but whilst his speech remained, he 
said he was well, and in a little time all 'would be 
well. Then one of his children coming to his bed 
side (for he was seized in his bed) he held her by 
the hand, and seemed, overcome with the presence 
of the Lord ; but had neither strength nor utterance 
to- speak, and presently falling into a deep sleep, de- 
parted this life (it is believed) without any sensible 
pain, the 16th of the Sixth month, 171 2*. and was 
decently interred ; and as his friends and neighbours 
believe and are satisfied, he is at peace with the Lord.. 
Aged about. Sixty-four years and four months. 



GEORGE BENSON, of Stong End,. in the parish 
^-r of Hawkshead, in Lancashire., was convinced o£ 
the unchangeable truth in his young years, near the 
breaking forth of the same in those parts, and. was a 
very faithful man to his conclusion,, being often ex- 
posed to various kinds of suffering, both by reason 
of keeping meetings at his house, and in other re-* 
spects relating to the- several branches of the ancient 
testimony of truth, which faithful friends in that 
time were liable unto: all which he bore with much, 
patience and courage-. 

Toward the latter part of his time his mouth was 
opened in a public testimony, and he travelled into 
some neighbouring counties in the service of truth. 

He was a faithful minister, according to his mea- 
sure, his life and conversation being also answerable 
to his ministry. 

In the time of his sickness he gave much good 
advice to his family, warning them, to keep to truth 
and out of the love of this world.. And he dropped 
several comfortable expressions to such as came to 



566 PIETY PROMOTED. 

see him, savin:; he had d , ■■ 

the day lasted, and had nothing to do but to die. 
He departed this life in great peace with the L 

the i th month, 1712, being in 

the Seventy-sixth year of his age. 



I RODERICK FORBES, son of Arthur and Eliza- 
-" beth 1 c, in Scotland, was a man 

of gr in the world. In his young 

. ledge of the principles of 

! by the people called 

time ; but hiw 

I 11 to the estate : 

then he left the I threw oil' the cross, 

: his loSS, till 

th of 1 
r, who in her life time was greatly con< 
him, and desirous that the Lord would visit 
him, and bring him into the knowledge and obe- 

of the holy truth •, and accordingly it pleased 
id in mercy to reach unto him, and awaken 
IS judgments, and by his divine 
power humbled him, an J caused him to bigh and cry 
unto the I. was graciously pleased to answer 

those desires and earnest cries that he begat in him, 
and brought him not onlv to behold the dawning of 
his gospel day, but in a spring of love to his 
soul, enabled him clearly and boldly to own the 
truth. 

This caused the priest he belonged to to visit him, 
who pretended a concern, that one of so honourable 
a family should be deluded, as he apprehended, jo 
whom Roderick said, c If the Lord were pleased to 
4 awaken and touch thy conscience, as- he hath done 
* mine, he would make thee quake every joint of 
4 thee -,' which stopped the priest so that he said no 



PIETY PROMOTED. 567 

And by this principle of truth was this visited man 
taught and strengthened to leave his loose and de- 
bauched companions, and to live a sober and godly 
life, to the astonishment of his former associates, 
who admired to see such a wonderful change wrought 
Upon him ; for he indeed now adorned the doctrine 
of God his Saviour in his life and conversation, 
walking according to the convictions of the grace of 
God, in solidity and weightiness of spirit. 

In the year 17 12, in his return from London, he 
was taken sick at Edinburgh, but retained a perfect 
memory, and was minded to make some alteration 
in his will, which he did, being greatly concerned 
for the good education of his children in the way of 
truth •, and gave directions for his burial, and the 
manner of it ; directing that his body should be in- 
terred in his own burying place, by las father and 
worthy mother, and two children of his own, after 
the plain and decent way of friends. 

" He was afterwards much exercised in prayer unto 
God, and thankfulness unto him for his visitation, 
and assisting him to bear a faithful testimony to the 
blessed truth he had brought him unto the know- 
ledge of, saying, " As the hunted hart panteth after 
"the water brooks, so hath my soul panted after 
u thee, O Lord/' ' I can bear witness that truth is 

* truth ;' and turning to his wife, he said, i My- dear,, 

* thou knowest it to be so, and I know thou art con- 

* vinced of it; therefore be, faithful to it." 

About two hours after he desired to be set up in. 
his bed, saying, ' I am now in readiness to go ;' 
and immediately the pains of death seized on him ; 
which though they were violent, he endured with 
patience, and was borne up in a Christian courage, 
triumphing over the powers of death, saying, * The 
' truth is precious, cleave unto it ; yea more precious 

* than the gold of Ophir : it hath delivered me from 
f many infirmities/ One standing by, said 3 < Trust 



V 



5,68 PIETY PROMOTED.. 

' in God and he will deliver thee.' He answered, 

* I have good cause to trust in him, he never failed 
' me: and now I feel his presence supporting me in 
c the very agonies of death •, yea, on the very brink 
' thereof I can and do rejoice through Jesus Christ 

* my Saviour and Redeemer. I feel his hand above 
' me and below me, supporting me; and I defy all 
'the powers of hell : I have seen their strength and 
''their malice, they have not prevailed: praises,. 
1 praises, oh ! everlasting praises to his ever-blessed 
' name.' 

Then seeing some about him weep, he said with 
much concern, l Why should ye be troubled, since 
' I undergo the agonies; you may look on : a small 
1 time will put an end to it, and I have a view of my 
' journey's end ; I am entering the joys thereof al- 
4 ready, where I shall enjoy everlasting happiness. " 

And in this condition he continued for some 
hours, and in intervals speaking always very sen- 
sibly, and recommended his dear wife to the tender* 
regard of friends as a widow : and then desired R. 
Barclay to hold up his head" in the time of his great- 
est agonies, till his speech began to fail ; so that he 
could utter but broken seirences, the last of which 
that was distinctly known, was, " Unless your 
" righteousness exceed the righteousness of the. 
" scribes and pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter 
" into the kingdom of heaven." 

So having given before a great deal of good advice 
unto all about him, to leave nothing to a dying bed, 
and to prefer the truth above all, with much more, 
not noted, about the eighth hour in the morning his 
speech left him, and he lay only breathing until 
about the fifth hour towards evening, and then 
quietly resigned up his breath without any struggling. 

He died in the Eighth month, 1712, and was 
Buried according as he desired 5 aged Forty-two, and 
convinced about ten years. 






PIETY PROMOTED-. 5.69 

"OOB'ERT FISHER, late of Preston Patrick, in 
■*»V the county of Westmoreland, was convinced of 
the blessed truth by the ministry cf John Banks (that 
ancient servant of Christ) at a meeting at Dalehead- 
in Cumberland, his native country, and with glad- 
ness of heart received the truth in the love of it, and 
- faithfully walked therein. And the Lord not only 
gave him to believe, but, being faithful, gave him 
also a part in the ministry of the gospel, and he tes- 
tified unto the holy truth, and preached the word of 
reconciliation. 

In which work, according to his measure, he was 
a faithful labourer, though he did not travel much 
abroad, neither was his testimony often known to be 
long, but comfortable and refreshing to the faithful. 
He was also- a faithful sufferer for that testimony, 
which the Lord raised in his heart to bear against 
the antichrisdan yoke of tithes, for which he many 
times suffered the spoiling of his goods, although his 
outward substance was but very small \ yet he stoed 
true and firm in his testimony to the end of his days- 
He began on the 26th of the First month, 1713* 
to be ill, and his sickness, increased and was very 
sharp upon him ; yet he was preserved in a comfort- 
able frame of spirit, patiently enduring those bodily, 
infirmities he was under, and much resigned in his 
mind to God's will, sounding forth praises to his 
great and excellent name, and often expressing the 
great satisfaction and comfort he felt from the Lord 
under his exercise. 

Some few hours before his death, his wife sitting. 
by him, he said, ' I feel the power and presence of 
■* the Lord to be with ine :' and though weakness o£ . 
body was upon him, yet he felt that hand and arm 
of divine power, which in times past had preserved 
him, to support and bear up his spirit over his exer- 
cise ; with several other words to the same effect,, 
which are not perfectly remembered. 



570 PIETY PROMOTED. 

After this his sickness renewed, and was very 
sharp upon him for a small time, but then abated ; 
and then he took leav*? of his wife, and bid her 
farewell ; and soon after passed away as if he had 
fallen into a sleep, without either sign or groan, the 
30th o; the First month, 17 13, and was buried the 
1st of the Second month following, in friends' 
burying-ground, at Park End, in Preston Patrick. 
Aged about Seventy-three years. 



T> UTH, wife of JOHN P ADLEY, of Shad- 
-*■*' Thames, in South wark, timber-merchant, and 
daughter of Richard Parke?, of Hook-norton, in the 
county of Oxford, was a woman that truly feared 
the Lori!, and loved his truth and people, very sin- 
cere and upright in her conversation among all, was 
very affectionate and loving to her husband, kind 
and loving to his children he had by a former wife, 
dutiful and tender to her aged parents, tender and 
loving to l;er brothers, sisters and other relations, 
compassion nte to those under affliction, and ready 
to sympathize with them, charitable to the poor, 
and in an especial manner to those of the household 
of faith, and was in her conversation so adorned 
with a meek and quiet spirit, as made her lovely, 
and therein was very exemplary j as also in plainness 
of apparel, becoming her profession, and in using 
the plain language to all, and in calling the days 
according to scripture, which although by some may 
be looked over but too lightly, yet is what many 
hive witnessed the spirit of truth, which leads into 
all truth, to lead them into. She also hated deceit, 
and was more in substance than in shew. 

And so she passed the time of her sojourning here 
in fear, as one that had an eye to another country, 
n am eiy, an heavenly ; of whom it may be truly 



PIETY PROMOTED. 571 

said, she was of the number of the wise virgins, 
whose lamps were burning, and so ready to enter 
with the bridegroom into the marriage chamber. 

She was visited with a declining distemper several 
months before she died, and although much means 
were used for her recovery, yet her distemper in- 
creased fast upon her, which she bore very patiently, 
and was resigned. 

Some little time after she was taken ill, she had a 
prospect of her departure hence, which was pleasant 
to her, but she concealed speaking thereof to her 
husband, till a little before her end, lest he should 
be over earnest in desiring her life, and said, ' Her 
* Maker laid nothing to her charge, and that she was 
'sensible he had regard unto her/ 

At another time to her sister E. Vokins, she ex- 
pressed her assurance, saying she did not question 
having a place in the kingdom. 

At another time she signified unto her said sister, 
her dear love to her husband, that she never could 
be displeased with him for any thing, and although 
his company was so desireable to her, she was very 
willing to give him up ; and said she would have 
him mind his Master's business. 

And to a neice, whom she had a tenderly and 
motherly care of, she advised and desired that she 
would take up the cross while young •, saying it 
would be harder if deferred, and that she had been 
well rewarded since she took it up. 

And to her sister E. V. she expressed her satis- 
faction with her company in her illness, saying 
that she had been a great comfort to her since she 
came. 

About two or three hours before she departed, 

being in prayer to the Lord, but her voice low, her 

neice asked her what she said ; her answer was, 

she was speaking to her Maker. 

' About two hours before her departure she said 



5- I PIETY PROMOTED. 

to her neice, * Thou mayst think my. affliction hard*,.' 
c but it is not ; my Maker has dealt very graciously, 
c or mercifully with me, more than I can expiess/ 
Her neice asked her if she thought it would be 
harder 5 she answered she did not think it would ;. 
adding, but if it should, she doubted- not but her 
Maker would support her under it. And when her 
said neice asked her where she would nave her 
dwell, her answer was, ' Where it maybe best for 

* thy soul/ 

About one hour before she died, she said, c Re- 
1 member my dear love to my brother John be sure, 

* and to all friends.' 

Afterwards she said to her husband, ' O my 
1 dear ! ' w the last words that were heard y 

but lifted up her dying hands and eyes as a sign of 
her breathing to the Lord in spirit, and so departed 
this life, and is entered into everlasting rest with 
the Lord. 

She died the 26th of the Second month, 1713^ 
and was buried from Horslydown meeting the 30th 
of the same, and divers living testimonies were borne 
on that occasion. Aged about Thirty-four years. 



T^LEANOR PERKIN was born the parish of 
-*- J Hemsterly, in the county of Durham, and at 
the age of seventeen years was convinced of the 
truth. She was of a sweet and innocent conver- 
sation, and of a meek and humble spirit, desirous 
to be conversant with such as feared God. 

She was taken ill the latter end of the Sixth- 
month,. 1 7 13. 

In the time of her illness she was much resigned 
unto the will of the Lord, whether to live or die. 
A friend asking her whether she desired to die 
rather than, to live,, she answered, * I desired 



PIETY PROMOTED. 573 

*:that Ion* since/ . Again she was asked if she had 
any trouble upon her mind about any thing ; she 
replied, 4 Nay.' Then it was queried of her 
whether she thought she should be accepted of the 
Lord; -she answered, -she hoped she shou'd; and 
supplicated the Lord in a heavenly frame of mind, 
to the reaching of the standers by, and the Lord's 
goodness and presence was felt and witnessed ; and 
she desired those present, to be ready when the 
Lord called for them, saying, * you know not whe- 

* ther he may call at midnight, or at cock-crow, or 
' at dawning of the day.' 

One time, being under great affliction, she said, 

* Lord, give me ease, and grant me patience;' 
which in a little time she received, and she made 
her acknowledgment unto the Lord for the same, 
•saying, c O Lord, when I get any ease, it comes 

1 from -thee.' A relation of hers being by, desired a 
book to pray (or read prayers) by her, to whom she 
answered (with respect to prayer j that it was beyond 
.books. And she spake of the goodness of God, and 
what he had- done for her, saying, ■ I desire I may 

* praise him while I live.' And to her sister she 
•said, ' I desire thou rnayst be a good child,' and the 

* Lord will love thee ; for the Lord loves all that 

* draw near to him.' 

One evening several of her friends came to visit 
her, and sate down in silence waiting upon the Lord ; 
in which time his presence was wonderfully felt and 
witnessed among them, insomuch that she, with 
Several others, were broken into tears and sweet 
harmony, with some words she uttered, which were 
not noted. 

A friend then present kneeling down to prayer, 
supplicated the Lord for her. After one had taken 
leave of her, Eleanor said, f My dear friend, the 
4 Lord be with thee and with me. Oh ! that I may 

* praise him whilst I have a day ; for he is worthy, 



sn 



PIETY PROMOTED. 



c worthy, for his great mercy and kindness this day. 
' Truth is precious : Oh ! that every one would 
c come to it, and that many would come and taste 
1 of it. Oh ! that I may make straight steps whilst 
1 I am here •, for good is the Lord : he hath been 
' very good to me all along. Oh ! that many were 
( partakers of his goodness •, for the Lord hath been 
' wonderful good unto me. Oh ! what this truth 
1 is, that many may (know and) be partakers of it, 
' and that we may honour the Lord, for he is worthy, 
' he is worthy of ail honour. The Lord was never 
' so good to me as now ; oh ! this was a good op- 
c portunity.' "With many other words, which, by 
reason of her weakness, and her voice being low, 
could not be well understood •, but she remained 
sensible to the last, and on the 8th of the Eighth 
month, 1 7 13, she departed this life, and was buried 
the nth, at Raby, in the county of Durham. 






"piCHARD KINMAN, an ancient friend, who 
■*-*' was truly owned and in unity with his friends, 
and of an upright and blameless life and conversa- 
tion, and loved the truth, and sometimes bore tes- 
timony to it in meetings. 

A little time before he departed this life, he said, 
c I know my Redeemer liveth, and that he hath done 
4 that for me none else can do ; and I believe it 
c will be well with me.' "With which testimony 
friends declared their unity, 

This, 
this honest ancient man retained his integrity, died 
in the faith, and obtained a good report. He died 
the 23d of die Tenth month, 1713, at Bishampton, 
in Worcestershire. Aged Seventy-two years. 



though short, is published to shew how 



PIETY PROMOTED.- 575 

QUSANNAH CARTON, widow of Wiiiiam 
~ Garton, late of Ifield, in the county of Sussex, 
was one that in her young years received the blessed 
truth in the love of it, and walked faithfully therein 
to the end of her days. It may be truly said she 
was a mother in God's Israel ; a preacher of right- 
eousness in her day, not so much in words as 
in life and conversation j though it pleased the Lord, 
towards her latter days, to bestow on her a gift of 
the ministry, which though small, was very sound 
and acceptable. 

She Was always of a meek and lowly mind, not 
esteeming of herself upon, or because of any service 
she was found in 5 but was humbled in thankfulness 
to the Lord, for that he had in any measure ac- 
counted her worthy, and enabled her to be service- 
able in the church, thinking no service therein too 
mean for her to be employed in. She was given to 
hospitality, was an entertainer of strangers, willing 
to wash the disciples feet, took care of the widows 
and fatherless, and visited the afflicted : to do good 
and communicate, as the Lord had blessed her, she 
was not unmindful; for with such sacrifice she 
knew the Lord was well pleased. 

She was also a cheerful sufferer with her dear 
husband for the testimony of truth, being often left 
to manage his affairs in the world, while he lay in 
prison for his testimony against tithes, and some- 
times for meeting to worship the Lord ; all which 
she bore and went through with great cheerfulness 
and zeal for the Lord, rather counting it all joy or 
rejoicing, that they were counted worthy not only 
to believe, but also to suffer for the Lord Jesus 
Christ's sake, whose -love and favour was more than 
all the world, or the enjoyments that were therein : 
and therefore did not reason with flesh and blood,, 
but were faithfully given up to serve the Lord with 
all that he had blessed them with, believing the 



576 PIETY PROMOTED. 

righteous should never be forsaken, nor their seed 
be found begging their bread, if they likewise fol- 
lowed their steps. Words are indeed too short to 
set forth the worth and value of such elders, who 
through faith and patient suffering have obtained a 
good report, and left a sweet savour behind them ; 
of whom it may be said, though their bodies be dead 
their spirits live, and their memorial is sweet to the 
living and sincere in heart, who had acquaintance 
with them, who will in their hearts set their seals 
to this testimony. 

This worthy woman was also a pattern of great 
plainness, and was often grieved to see and hear of 
the superfluity that .-.hounded among some of the 
professors of truth, and the undue liberty they fc>ok, 
saving, * It was not so in the beginning, for then 
4 there was nothing too near and dear to part with 
1 for truth's sake/ She was likewise much troubled 
to hear the needless vain talking, foolibh jesting, ana 
j light and airy carriage among such, that were 
unbecoming our holy profession, saying, ' Time 
' ought not to be so spent ; for an account must be 
* given unto God for all these tilings.' It pleased 
the Lord to preserve her out of such things to the 
end of her days, and it is not doubted but the Lord 
hath given her a portion among his redeemed ones. 

AY hat can be written cannot add to her virtue or 
happiness, but is written in fear and true love, with 
desire that those into whose hands it may come, may 
be encouraged to hold on their way, and that droop- 
ing souls -may look unto the rock that followed the 
ancients, and was with them in all their tribulations. 
Unto which rock they now sing praises, and render 
honour, glory and thanksgiving for ever. Amen. 

It was the care of this worthy matron to walk 
circumspectly in the time of her health ; and when 
it pleased the Lord to visit her with weakness, which 
continued and encreased on her for about half a 



PIETY PROMOTED. 577 

year, she was preserved in great patience, quietness 
and resignation to the will of God, often saying, ' It 

* is preparation for my end, and I am well content ; 

* for the Lord hath given me many days. And if 
c this had not come upon me, I could not expect to 

* live long in this world.' 

And although she was one of few words in her 
health, yet in her illness she wanted not for a word 
of advice to those that came to visit her, (and it hath 
caused some trouble it was not taken from her mouth 
as it was spoken. J She was much concerned for her 
grand-children, and when any of them came to see 
her, she advised them to prize their precious time, 
saying,- ( I was once young as well as you, or others, 
' and delighted in the pleasures and vanities of this 

* world j but the Lord in his love and mercy met 

* with me, yea, he laid the ax to the very root of 

* the tree, and made me willing to part with all my 
' lovers, my pride and vanities, and become a fool 
c and a gazing-stock to the world : but all was as 
$ nothing to me in that day, in comparison to the 

* love and favour of God to my poor soul, that had 
6 long wanted peace with the Lord. And in that 

* day it was my care to accompany myself with those 

* that I thought walked most circumspectly, and 

* dwelt nearest the' Lord in their spirits ; and not to 
1 look out at, or take example by those that were for 

* most liberty, (as too many now do.)' 

Then she in much thankfulness, said, ' Oh ! it 
c was a good day, a blessed day, a day never to be 
6 forgotten, my soul hath it in grateful remembrance 
6 before the Lord ; praised be his holy name for his 
( goodness.' And in tears of joy she exhorted all 
to be faithful unto death, that they might obtain a 
crown of life. 

Again, upon some coming to visit her, and asking 

her how she did, she answered, ( I am going a 

* f little before, and you must follow after : all had. 

Vol. I. 2B 



573 PIETY PROMOTED. 

' need to be faithful to the gift they have received. 
vex found that going to meeting barely would 

* do for me : we must all be faithful according to 
4 what we have received, and there is no more 

red.' 

Another time, a friend of London being with her, 

she tenderly enquired after the affairs of truth, 

in that great city come up 

' in ■: discipline in the church ? Are 

cerned to peek out the lost .sheep, 

■ 

• leave of the n , ' Farewell, 

tin in this world ; bin 
part in th 
SI • .Ned in great tenderness and br< 

'.rit all the tiff] , d did 

i her friends that came to visit her, ( I do 

4 not weep bee . approaching; for I 

that if any | lie in my 

me : but I 

4 do not find any thing laid to my charge.' Another 

ids came to visit her, she, 

pouring oil t frame of spirit, said, ' I 

* belit will be fulfilled on me, that 

in tears shall reap in joy.' 

She also often expressed her great thankfulness, 

that the Lord should be so good to her, as to open 

the hearts of many to visit her in her weakness ; and 

acknowledged the goodness and mercy of the Lord, 

wonderfully good is the Lord to me, 

* a poor creature ! what a gentle hand doth he lay 
' upon me ! how comfortably have I rested this 
c night ! what a mercy do I receive at the Lord's 

* hand, in this my weak condition, that I can sleep 

* so sweetly !' And wdth tears of joy she gave thanks 
unto God for his great favour and goodness to her, 
saying, ( I spend many hours in thinking upon the 

* Lord and his goodness, I admire how people can 



PIETY PROMOTED: 579 

c lay them down and fall asleep, and not think upon 

* the Lord, and see or consider how things are with 
c them/ Sometimes she would signify her desire to 
be dissolved and go to the Lord; but it was in a 
resigned frame of spirit, saying, c O Lord, grant I 
' may patiently wait thy appointed time, knowing 

* thy time is the best time.' 

And often begged of the Lord, that he would give 
a double reward to her daughter, for the love and 
care extended unto her : and her daughter being 
with child, and near her time, she was in great care 
for her : and when she heard she was safe delivered, 
she was glad ; and the child being brought to her* 
she chearfully took it in her arms, kissed it, and 
said, ( I pray God bless it, and make it a good 
c woman.' And afterwards said, C I must go to my 
' God.' She lifted up her eyes, folded her hands 3 
and gave up her soul in sweetness to the Lord, 
without either sigh or groan, the 10th of the First 
month, 1 7 14, and was buried at Charlwood, in 
Surry, her corpse being accompanied with many 
friends, neighbours and relations. Aged Seventy- 
nine years. 



pHEBE, wife of WILLIAM DOUGHTY, of 
-*- Flushing, in New-England, was daughter unto 
Sarah Taylor. 

She was dutiful to her parents, and a great com- 
fort to them, and from a child was mindful of 
eternity, meditated on the best things, had God in 
her thoughts, and would enquire the meaning of 
some scriptures. She was never given to speak that 
which was not true. Many heavenly and weighty^ 
prayers she put up unto God, that hears the contrite 
in heart, and he answered her petitions, to her great 
comfort *, for she declared the Lord had given her 
assurance of her salvation, and death was no terror 
2-B 7, 



5 So PIETY PROMOTED. 

to her ; and that she had rather die than live longer 
in this troublesome world ; * though,' said she, ' I 

* have not wanted that which is convenient for me : 

' I have as dear a husband as a woman need to have,.. 
e a tender mother, and a sweet child ; yet it is better 

* for me to go and leave you all ; this is the best 

* time; for I am going to meet my Lord Jesus/ — 
And she said to her husband, some time before she 
died, c My dear, we must part, it is made known 
' to me : give me up freely. 5 And desired all about 
her to be faithful to improve their talents which 
they had all received from the Lord, and put it not 
off to a dying hour ; for that is poor work. c Oh ! 

* how hard a tiling will it be, to die and want peace 

* with Gotl ; but it is joy and comfort to me to depart 
' this life ; for it was said to rne, after my great ex- 
' ercise, Thy peace is made ; and I have nothing to 

* charge myself with since/ 

She desired her mother to tell her sister from her, 
the Lord had bestowed a great deal on her, and 
: • much ' is given, much is Tequired ; and 
ed she might improve her talent, and not put 
it off till a dying hour, that is poor work ; saying 
if she could see her poor sister, she would give her 
good counsel. 

She spake to others to the same effect, and ut- 
tered many weighty expressions in prayer, which 
were not noted down, That day she died, she said 
to her mother, seeing her weep, ' Mother, I leave 

* thee my little son to take delight in, take him as 
-< thy own, I give him to thee, and bring him up in 

' the way of truth, to be sure in the way of truth/ 
She spake of the goodness of God and his mercies 
to her, and declared her full satisfaction of her future 
well-being, often saying. Sweet Jesus, and declared 
she was ready. And after she had been fervent in 
prayer, and therein desired the Lord to open the 
door for her, she said, * Sweet Jesus, my trust is 

* in thee/ 



PIETY PROMOTED, 58 1 

A few 'minutes before she died she kissed heir 
mother, and desired her husband to kiss her, and 
bid them take care of the child : e Now/ said she, 
c I will go to sleepy' and so departed the 10th of 
the First month, 1714, the fourth day of the 
week, and was accompanied with many friends and 
others to the meeting-house in Flushing, and after 
meeting to the burying-ground, near the market 
houst 5 where she was ctac-smiy hiferredj the 12th 
of the First months 17 14. 



HPANER COSTARD, son of ^ John and Ruth 
■*• Costard, late of Amersham, in the county of 
Bucks, was of an innocent conversation, dutiful, 
loving and affectionate to his parents, religiously 
inclined from his infancy, and greatly delighted to 
read the holy scriptures, especially the New Tes- 

.tie 'lived with his grandfather, and was brought 
up by him, and in his practice, being a physician. 
And though not in profession with the people called 
Quakers, yet this young man came to receive that 
holy truth' professed by them, and to experience the 
work of it in his heart ; as may appear by what he 
wrote in the time of his weakness, not long before 
his death, and "by what he expressed to his mother 
near his end, as herein after is related. 

He writ the following thankful acknowledgment 
of the many mercies he received, and of the gracious 
dealings of the Lord with him. 

The dead, O Lord, cannot thee praise ; - 

But 'tis the living, they 
Whom thou hast quicken'd, and dost raise 

-To walk thy holy way. 

2B3 



cSz PIETY PROMOTED. 

Thy name they praise and magnify, 

As doth my soul with joy •, 
Joy which is fix'd on thee on high, 
- In which there is no cloy. 
I'll bless thy name, O God of love •, 

Nor will I cease to own, 
Mow on my heart thou first didst move, 

And made thy mercies known. 
W! er to thy ways, 

Thou often didst appear, 
And in my early tender days 

Reveal'd thy presence near. 
And when I knew thee not, yet felt 

Thy secret touches nigh, 
How hast thou made my heart to melt, 

And rais'd a secret cry, 
That thou wouldst unto me make known 

Thy saving truth and way, 
And that when thou thy ways had shown 

I might not go astray : 
JL>ut that my inrant teet migm rreaa 

Thy way of life and light, 
Taught by thy grace, and thereby led 

In it to take delight. 
Thou heardst my secret breathings, Lord, 

And by degrees didst shew 
What I should shun, with what accord, 

And what thou'dst have me do. 
And when aside I have been drawn 

And swerv'd from thy command, 
Thou thy paternal love hast shown 

By a chastizing hand ; 
For every son that thou dost love, 

Thou also dost chastize, 
That so thou mayst obedience move> 

And teach to be more wise. 



PIETY PROMOTED. $8 

When I returned have to thee 

With all my heart and might,' 
Thou hast not gracious faild to be, 

Or hid thy precious light. 
And when on every side beset, 

In raging' tempests tost \ 
Though tryM, thou didst not me forget, 

Or suffer to be lost* 
Thou hast rebuk'd the winds, and ihxf 

At thy command were still \ 
Satan himself did thee obey, 

As subject to thy will. 
And though that thou mightst make it known 

How sin displeaseth thee* 
Thou hast thy just displeasure shown t 

And hid thy face from me. 
Thou hast appear'd to give relief 

When most disconsolate, 
I droop'd beneath my pain and grief, 

And mourn'd my wretched state ; 
Even unto this very day 

Thy mercies have been shown, 
And thy assistance in that way 

Thou hast to me made known. 
When pain and sickness have assail'dj 

Thou hast not me forsook ; 
The enemy has not prevail'd, 

Who wou'd my faith have shook. 
Therefore with praise my heart is full. 

My mouth is open'd too, 
What thou for me hast done, to tellf 

What thou for thine canst do. 
Thou that didst underneath sustain 

In time of greatest need, 
Who dost and will thine own maintain 

And bless thy precious seed, 
2B4 



584 PIETY PROMOTED, 

Thou art the God whom I adore, 
O ever gracious Lord ! 

Me to preserve I thee implore, 
Oh ! keep me by thy word. 



T. C. 



Another time before he died, being something 
recovered, he writ what follow 

Now in my sickness I cou'd see 
'Twas the effects of love to me. 
That it was love, and love most true, 
That was my great physician too. 
I saw and felt a hand to move 
Of great compassion, greatest love ; 
Love, which can never be expressed, 
Nor never be enough confess'd. 
And now if death should take away, 
Life from this painful lump of clay, 
'Twould be the effects of love to me, 
prom farther pain and danger free. 
If still existence here I know, 
1 trust this love will with me go. 

■ He also writ the following verses : 



On wings of love and contemplation soar 

My soul to the angelic shore, 

By sacred silence mount on high, 
Exalt thyself by true humility. 
Let not earth's interposing clog thy way; 
But through its vail beholcLeternal day. 

And let the beams of holy light, 

Which only can afford delight, 
Thy path enlighten, and direct thy sight. 



PIETY PROMOTED. s$5 

II. 

Thoii knows'?, my soul, the place to wait, 

Where to attend at wisdom's gate ; 

Grovel no longer here below, 

With patience there attend to know 

Th' instructions that from wisdom flow. 

Who teaches that humility, 

(Preceding to arising high) 

Which gives thee wings and bids thee fly* 

Let nothing then invite thy stay, 
With such a heavenly guide take wing away, 
1 kere's always danger in too long delay. 

III. 

As nearer this poor earthly tenement, 
By sickness hastened to a swift descent, ■■ 
Is to its first original of clay, 
And to the silent grave is on its way, 
Oh ! mayst thou nearer to a blest estate, '■ 
For that great change with patience wait 5 
Mayst thou, my soul, unshock'd remain, 
No slavish fear e'er entertain -, 

But as the body does decay, 

Mays't thou arise and traverse on thy way. \- -. 

IV. 

Arise, arise, mount up, my soul, and sing. 

Worship and praise thy high and heavenly king, 

Who hath so gracious been to thee, 

His way and truth to let thee see 5 

The way to true felicity, 

Who by his spirit did appear, 

And thy redemption offer'd near, 

Affording help, O wondrous love ! 

Mayst thou ne'er disobedient prove ! 
But be obsequious to his will, 
Obey his voice, and his commands fulfil. 

2B5 t. c P 



586 PIETY PROMOTED. 

He likewise spoke several excellent things which 
were not noted ; for he was indeed much devoted to 
the service of God in the time of his health, and 
very diligent to wait upon the Lord from a child ; 
-and when very young he learned to read in the New 
Testament, and often wept when he read of the 
sufferings of Christ. 

A little before he died, his mother going to see him, 

when she came and had been by him for some time, 

she said unto him, ' 1 am made easy and willing to 

with thee, because I have satisfaction it will be 

1 we 1 ! with thee.' To which he replied, looking on 

ravely, and with a pleasing countenance, 

* I know it will be well, I know it will be well, I 

* know it will be well.' 

And when he departed, it was observed to be in 

Stillness and sweetness, and those present felt 

fe and power of God in a large measure, to their 

great comfort at that time, and was as an assurance 

to them, that it was well with him, and that the Lord 

took him to himself. 

He died the 23d of the First month, 17 14, and 
his corpse was accompanied from the meeting-house 
in Amersham aforesaid, by many friends and others 
who loved and esteemed them, and interred in 
friends burying ground near the said place. Aged 
about Twenty-two years. 



REBECKAH, daughter of JOSEPH and REBEC- 
PI API TOOVEY, of London, aged about Nine 
years, was a dutiful and pious child, a great reader and 
lover of the Holy Scriptures and friends books j of an 
innocent and wise behaviour and carriage, and her 
conversation was pleasing and acceptable : though 
she was but a young plant, it pleased the Lord to 
endue her with a large understanding in things both 



PIETY PROMOTED. 587 

natural and divine. She was comely in her person, 
virtuous in her practices, quick of apprehension, very- 
just and equal in all she undertook, and never known 
to tell a lie or speak an ill word. She loved to go to 
meetings, and said it was sweet to her. 

Some few weeks before her sickness she had been 
at a meeting, wherein she was very diligent and at- 
tentive to a friend, who earnestly exhorted the chil- 
dren of friends to make choice of the blessed truth 
for their portion, whilst they were in the enjoyment 
of their health, that they might be prepared for a 
dying hour : whereupon this child was much reached 
and melted into tears, and after meeting she got 
apart to read, which was her usual practice. 

After she was taken ill, she was in great pain rbut 
her heart was filled with the incomes of the Lord's 
love and mercy, which caused her to utter many . 
sweet and heavenly expressions. 

She bore her great pain with much patience, and 
was observed to be mostly wonderfully deep' in sup- 
plication to the Lord, in a tender, humble and sub- 
missive manner : and when her pain was sharp, she 
often cried out, * Sweet Jesus, give me ease. Sweet 
' Jesus, look down with an eye of pity upon thy 
€ poor, poor servant.' 

Another time being in great pain, she said, 

* Sweet Jesus give me ease j 

' For mercy I do crave : 

* And if thou wilt but give me ease, 

' Trien mercy I shall have.' 

"With many other pathetical expressions not noted, 
which she uttered in deep supplication and humilia- 
tion, and then he said, i O Lord, thou desirest not 
' the death of a sinner ; but rather that he would 

* repent, return and live , - adding, ( I know it to 

* be so.' 

2B6 



5»8 PIETY PROMOTED. 

Another time she said, ' Lord, if thou pleasest thou 
c canst give me ease.' And again, 'Lord, thou wilt 
' help them that love and fear thee. O Lord, re- 
* member thy poor servant, and give me a little ease.' 
And seeing the maid cry, she asked her what she 
cried for •, the maid said, ' To see thee so full of 
' pain.' To which the child replied, ' Do not cry, 
f I shall be well in a while.' 

And perceiving her school-mistress, R. TrafFord, 
to be troubled tor her, she said, 'Dear mistress, do 
' not be troubled ; there is a rest prepared for the 
■ righteous. There is no ease here, but there is ease 
' in heaven.' 

She also said, ' It is a sad thing to speak bad words, 
1 and to tell lies, which I never did. 5 

Near her end, she said to her maid, ' I wish thee 
1 well, and I shall be well.' Then naming her rela- 
tions and particular acquaintance, she bid them fare- 
well, and departed this life in a sweet frame of spirit 
at Croydon in Surry, on the 8th of the Fourth month, 
1 7 14, and was brought to London, and buried in 
friends burying-ground in Bunhill-Fields. 



JOSEPH GROVE, of Rotherhithe parish, in 
*^ Surry, merchant, was the son of John Grove, 
of Mary Magdalen's parish, mariner and master of a 
ship, who for many years used the Barbadoes trade ; 
and ,-this Joseph Grove did reside in the Island of 
Barbadoes for many years, where, as well as since 
his returning to his native country, he was of a sober 
conversation, and good reputation, and a lover of 
truth and the friends of it, who kept their places 
therein . 

In the latter part of his time he was often indis- 
posed in body, and much afflicted with pains, notwith- 
standing which, he was not unmindful of making his 



* PIETY PROMOTED. 589 

peace with the Lord j for a little before his departure, 
he said, ' I hope I have fought a good fight, and am 
' waiting for the crown, which I doubt not at all but 

* is laid up in heaven for me. Oh! how I long to be 
' dissolved : to live indeed is Christ; but to die is 
c gain." Then speaking to his wife, said, ' My dear 
' love, weep not for me ; for I seek death with more 
'pleasure than all the riches the Indies cart' afford. 
' Thou hast been my love •, but I have another lover, 
' Christ Jesus our Lord ; to him I go, and to him 

* I recommend thee and my dear children : he will 

* be a husband, a friend, a counsellor and helper, yea, 

* All in All, if thou wilt cleave unto him. Seek and 

* thou shalt find \ knock, and he will open the trea- 
c sures of divine wisdom to thee, and by his mighty 
' power thou wilt be preserved out of all such things 
4 that would spot and defile.' And great was his 
concern for his children, insomuch that he would 
often say, f Oh ! that they may chuse the fear of the 
' Lord, I desire that for them, more than all things 
' here below, that is the best riches and the greatest 
i honour.' And as his love was great to his wife and 
children, yet it was not bounded there ; but said^ 

* What strong love have I, in my heart, for the ser- 
( vants of tire Lord, and although I cannot be present 

* with them at meetings, I often meet with the Lord 

* in my solitary chamber ; for ever blessed be his 
4 holy name. Oh! that they may love him, and 

* then they must and will love one another.' And 
fluently said to this effect. 

He departed this life the 9th of the Eighth month.,. 
1 7 14, in the Sixty-second year of his age, and his 
corpse being attended by many friends and others,, 
was deeently buried in friends burying-ground near 
Barnaby- street, Southwark. 



590 PIETY PROMOTED. 

•pSTHER, wife of RICHARD CHAMPION, of 

-"-^ Bristol, was daughter of Joseph Palmer, of Flushing 
in Long-Island, in America, and religiously inclined 
from her young and tender years, for the Lord in- 
clined her heart to seek after him, and was pleased 
to be found by her ; and the Lord gave her a large 
measure of his holy spirit, and caused her, as she 
grew in years, to increase more and more in his 
eternal iruth, and fitted and prepared her for his 
work and service w hereunto he called her. And 
after some time he sent her to visit his people and 
churches, and to preach the gospel of peace and. sal- • 

I by Christ, and declared his coming by his 
divine light and spirit in the hearts of all men, in- 
b them, and laboured to gather them 
to him, in order to their coming to know salvation 
by him, and in this work she laboured in divers parts 
.erica, viz. Rhode-Island, Long-Island, New- 
England, tl Last and West, Pennsylvania, 

Maryland, Virginia, Carolina, &c. And had meet- 
ings in sever.. 1 places among many people, where 
there had been none before, and the Lord was pleased 
to ble^s her labour, so that many were gathered to 
the knowledge of his truth, and therein to worship 
him in the spirit of his Son our blessed Saviour, the 
Lord Jesus CI 

After she had travelled many thousand miles in 
the Lord's service, in the work of the ministry of the' 
gospel in those American parts, she found for some 
years a concern, which so continued upon her, that she 
could net with satisfaction omit, which was to visit 
some parts of Great Britain, but more particularly 
the inhabitants of London, to which place she arrived 
the 20th of the Eighth month, 17 10, and had good 
service there, which many that were witnesses and 
sharers can testify. 

She was a woman of a solid yet cheerful spirit^ 
much abounding in love and true zeal for the Lord 



PIETY PROMOTED. 591 

and his truth; and would express her great grief 
when there was any disorder or want of true love 
in any church, meeting, or family where she travelled, 
which was in divers parts of this nation. 

The 23d of the Eighth month, 1714, in the morn- 
ing, she complained of sharp pains in her hreast and 
back, which continued most part of three days, and 
then the small- pox appeared, which distemper hath 
often proved mortal to many of those parts where 
she was born. 

She retained a sound understanding, ami often- 
times spoke cf the goodness of God to her soul, and 
by the aboundings of his love her heart was filled, 
and her cup made to overflow, to the comfort of 
those that were present. 

She was freely resigned to the will of God either 
to die or live, though she had unexpressible love to 
her husband and children, and desired, if she lived, 
to be farther serviceable to the church of Christ, yet 
said, c The Lord's will, and not mine be done.' 

She often desired those that were present to love, 
seek, and serve the eternal God with all their hearts. 
And speaking to Dr. Logan, said, ' The many good 
' and precious opportunities thou hast in thy way of 

* practice (if rightly applied) in seeing the advantage, 
' unexpressible joy and comfort the Lord was please 
c oftentimes (on a dying bed) to give and afford those 
1 that live in his fear ; and on the contrary, cries, 
c bemoanings, and bitter bewailings of others, that 
c had not improved and spent their time well in this 
' world.' All which she desired him to improve, 
and further added, ( It is not a profession of religion 

* only that will render men acceptable to God; but 

* serving him in and by the assistance of Jesus, the 
6 Son of God, the only Intercessor for man's salva- 
c tion.' 

She was then reminded of her great weakness of 
body, to which she replied, * The Spirit of Christ in 



592 PIETY PROMOTED. 

' me, raises my spirit and strength to speak of his 
■ gcodness, and praise his great and good name-,' 
and added, * All that man can do is but his duty: 

* therefore the Lord, through his Son, our Saviour, 

* the immaculate Lamb, ought to have the honour.' 
And desired the Lord would be a Shepherd to his 
people, as he had been and still was to her soul,. 
who had given her to enjoy sweet pastures, and 
made her heart exceedingly to overflow ; and that 
his staff and rod had been and s'.ill was her unex- 
pre c sible comfort. 

And as she frequently did in a sweet and heavenly- 
frame supplicate the Lord, so she did then, praising 
his eternal name for his goodness to her soul, 
and that she knew her Redeemer to live, and to be 
with her, saying, c It is an easy thing to talk of 
' death ; but it is an unexpressible comfort to be 

* prepared for a dying hour, and to meet death, 
' when it appears, cheerfully: as I now do, by the 
' help of the same Jesus, my Saviour, that suffered 
c without the gates of Jerusalem.' Then she prayed 
very fervently for the return and repentance of 
those that run into a loose and libertine spirit ; 
and that the glory of God might appear in a 
particular manner to the inhabitants of this great 
city j and that God's church might be preserved in 
perfect peace, as a light to the beholders. Also 
she prayed very earnestly for the young genera! ion, 
that the Lord would incline their hearts in their 
visitation, in the days of their youth, to seek and 
serve him, before it was too late, as he had done to 
her soul in her early days ; for which, said she, 
I have cause for ever to admire his unexpressible 
love. 

She bore the extremity of her distemper with 
more cheerfulness and discretion than was common,, 
with a continual resignation to the will or God. 

A few hours before her departure, she said her 



PIETY PROMOTED. 593 

time in this world was near spent, and cheerfully- 
desired her husband to resign her up into the bosom 
of her blessed Saviour j and requested her husband 
to live in God's fear, and serve him faithfully all his 
days. 

She signified her satisfaction in their coming 
together in marriage, and declared the same power 
that engaged and united their spirits, now called her 
home to God. 

Then she spent some time in holy supplication 
unto God, although she was very weak in body, 
(yet fervent in spirit) and she earnestly besought her 
heavenly Father, that the brightness of his day might 
appear abundantly in his people and churches all 
the world over. Then embracing her husband, 
took- her farewell in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Then she sent for her husband's two children 
(he had by a former wife) whom she affectionately 
loved and treated as tenderly, whilst she lived with 
them, as if they were her own. embraced them in 
her arms and took her leave, advising and desiring 
them, being of years of understanding, to seek, 
serve and love the eternal God in the days of their 
youth : and declared unto them the advantage they 
would receive thereby, and recommended them into 
the hands of God, desiring he would preserve them 
out of the evil of the world, (whilst they were 
therein) and fervently prayed, that they might be 
the Lord's servants all their days; and desired them 
to be dutiful ta their father, observe his advice, and 
love their little brother and sister. Her two children 
being young, she took them in her arms and 
affectionately embraced them, and desired the Lord 
would take them (with the two elder) to himself, 
when their time here shall come to an end. 

Then she sent for some of her servants, to whom 
she gave good counsel and advice, recommending 
and exhorting them to love, serve and fear the great 



594 PIETY PROMOTED. 

and good God in the days of their youth, and whilst 
they have strength, signifying the advantage they 
would receive thereby. Also gave them in charge 
to take care and discharge their trust to her children 
whilst they were with them ; and those of her 
servants that were not" present, she desired might be 
acquainted with her advice to them. 

She : Ftcd her heart was filled with the 

love d the 1 pros-' 

rch and p 
ch beginning to failj she said, * I desire 
' my dear love in the Lord Jesus Christ may be 
* remembered to all my relations and friends that ask 
' after me, even in the same love (said she) that 
'now makes my heart to overflow:' and then de- 
clared her satisfaction of going to her eternal rest, 
in embracing her husband in her arms-, and 
in the bowels of her Father's love, sweetly took 
leave and bid him finally farewell, and soon departed 
this life, as quiet as one that sleeps with much 
sweetness, in Bristol) the 3d of the Ninth month, 
1 7 14, after eleven days sickness, and was interred 
in friends' burial-ground of that city, whose love 
and labour therein, in the work of the word of life 
had been large (for her time) and in the parts 
aforesaid : in which she was blessed of God, and 
made successful to the good and comfort of 
many. 

She was a virtuous woman, of a sound judgment, 
and very quick understanding, abounding in true 
3ove and zeal for the Lor a and his truth; solid and 
grave, yet of a cheerful di , greatly desiring 

the good of all people, and that they might come 
to the knowledge of 'the truth, live therein, and 
enjoy peace and acceptance with the Lord. 

bhe was a faithful minister of trie gospel of 
peace, a good, a virtuous, and affectionate wife, a 
tender mother, a loving mistress, a true friend, 



PIETY PROMOTED. $95 

and of an exemplary conversation in holiness and 
true piety. 



T^ANIEL TAYLOR, of Bridport, shopkeeper, 
-■/ was convinced of the holy truth in his young 
days, about the nineteenth or twentieth year of his 
age, and received it in the love thereof; and 
through its work and power in him, ha btcamt a 
very solid, grave religious man, greatly serviceable 
in the church of Christ, and exemplary in his life 
and conversation, adorning the doctrine of God our 
Saviour, by walking as became his holy profession, 
of which Jesus Christ is the apostle and high priest, 
until the Lord whom he loved was pleased to take 
him unto himself. 

In the time of persecution he was a cheerful 
sufferer for the testimony of truth, both by im- 
prisonment and spoil of goods which he took joyfully, 
whereby he became a strength to his brethren, who 
were fellow sufferers with him : for he could pray 
for his enemies, and had love unto all mankind, 
and desired their salvation, knowing it was the will 
of God. 

And God blessed him with outward substance, 
with which he honoured the Lord, and liberally, with 
cheerfulness, gave great part thereof to charitable 
uses, as by his several gifts and legacies appear. 

He was a great friend to the poor of all sorts, 
and had a tender regard to them, amongst whom he 
- will be greatly missed, as well as in the church. 

His sickness was but short, he kept his bed but a 
few days before his departure. In which time he' 
was sweet in his spirit, and had near access to the 
Lord, and in much humility said, ( O thou great 
6 Jehovah, in whom is everlasting strength, my soul 
* praises "thee, and all that is within me blesses thy 
6 holy name/'— Again, with more not noted down, 



596 PIETY PROMOTED. 

he said, c My soul praises thee, and my spirit 

* magnifieth thy holy name :' — He added, < My love, 

* in the Lord Jesus Christ, is to all friends; I am, 
' (said he,) in love and amity with them.' And 
being apprehensive his departure drew near, he took 
his solemn leave and farewell of both his relations 
and friends that came to see him, praying for them, 
and gave \* unsel and advice to several; 
particularly the you t«d to him, 
and likely to survive him in this world. 

And being content in the will of God, which he 
prayed for, and was answered in, he died the 7th of 
the Ninth montii, 17 14, in the -Seventy- third year 
of his age, and was honourably bu;ied the 12th of 
the same, in friends' burying-ground at Bridport, 
his corpse being accompanied to the grave by many 
of his friends and neighbours, and testimony given 
to truth both at the meeting and grave on that 
solemn occasion. 



JOHN THOMPSON, late of Crook, in the county 
y of Westmoreland, was very early convinced of 
the blessed truth, in the year 1652, by that eminent 
minister of the gospel, George Fox, at his first 
going into those parts. 

. I John Thompson had been seeking the 
way of the Lord for several years, and when his 
understanding came to be opened by the light of 
Christ, unto which he was turned, he was convinced 
of tlie truth and way of the Lord, and his soul 
greatly rejoiced that the day was broken forth, 
which let him see the dry and empty forms, and 
lifeless religion he had been in. And although he. 
had been strict in profession, by the light of Christ, 
he then saw there were abundance of things which 
were not agreeable to the mind of the Lord. And 



PIETY PROMOTED. 597 

the righteous judgments of God he found to work 
in him, in order to redeem him out of those things. 
And notwithstanding he saw the way was straight, 
and the sufferings many which he was like to meet 
with, yet through the work of the power of God, 
he was made willing to bear and go through all, 
even cruel mGcking, bufferings, revilings, imprison- 
ment, and spoiling of goods, and rejoiced' the Lord 
made him willing to surfer for his name's sake. 

He was zealous for the truth against that libertine 
spirit, which opposed the discipline and good order 
of the gospel, standing as a watchman upon Sion's 
walls, having a clear discerning of many things that 
might creep in to eclipse her glory, under whatsoever 
pretence they might appear. And as the light made 
them manifest, it placed judgment in the wisdom of 
truth upon the transgressor. 

After some time the Lord was pleased to open his 
mouth by way of testimony for his blessed truth, 
in which he faithfully laboured j and though he 
never travelled much abroad, yet his ministry was 
reaching and refreshing to them that heard, and 
■edifying to the churches where his lot was cast. 

He was very tender towards that which was good 
in the least appearance of it ; but very sharp against 
that which was evil, especially against those that 
professed the truth, and were not faithful in. that 
testimony truth had called them to bear, but gave 
way to a libertine spirit, who were not willing to 
bear the cross. Oh ! his spirit was often grieved 
with such, and he-was made often sharply to reprove 
them, being much concerned for their good, and 
also for the honour of truth ; often saying that those 
who professed the truth and walked contrary to it, 
were the greatest enemies truth had, being a stum- 
bling block in the way of others. 

He suffered long imprisonment upon the account 
of his testimony against that antichristian yoke of 



59» PIETY PROMOTED. 






tithes, and also great spoiling of goods by Hues 
imposed on him for his testimony to the truth ; aH 
which he bore patiently, and underwent with abun- 
dance of pleasure, having a regard to the recompence 
of reward which would follow. 

lie stood valiantly through all those days of 
tribulations and sufferings, after which he lived to a 
good old age. 

He was visited with sickness the nth of the 

Third month, 171 5, and though his pains were 

, yet he bore them patiently, often saying 

that in a little time all would be well. One asked 

■ •, he replied, (many being present) 

body and full of pain, and it 

h iv must not be long : but 

time here, and the Lord hath 

ond what I have desired 

.1 ; but all is well : the Lord's power i3 

1 guilt, no condemnation, 

* or bar between the Lord and my soul's peace; 

x * ure holy over all, and I feel 

ini in, and my heart is 

• friends.' And 

[uiet, enjoying peace with the 

Lord. 

.vectly finished his course the 26th 
cf the Third month, 171 5, at the house of James 
Wilson, and was buried in a decent manner the 
29th of the same, in friends' burying-ground at 
Kendal ; and though his earthly house be dissolved, 
yet we are satisfied he hath a house with God, 
ial in the heavens. Aged Eighty-seven years. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 599 

O AMUEL WALDENFIELD, late of Bush-hill, 
^ in the county of Middlesex, died the 7th of the 
Eighth month, 17 15, at his own house. 

He was born about the year 1652 at Edmunsbury, 
in Suffolk, and after lived at Sudbury, in the said 
county. 

He was religiously inclined in his youth, and 
sometimes a hearer of the Independants. 

About the year 1670 or 71, he was, by the word 
of life, - convinced of the blessed truth, by that 
eminent minister of the gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, Giles Barnardistcn, and received it in the 
love thereof, and came to be obedient thereunto, 
and to know the work of it upon his heart, and by 
keeping to the teachings of the grace of God, came 
to live a sober and a godly life, and was very 
zealous for the Lord and his holy name and 
truth. 

It pleased the Lord about the year 1672 to bestow 
upon him a gift of the ministry 5 and the Lord 
called and sent him forth to proclaim the acceptable 
year of the Lord, and he published the glad tidings 
of peace, and proclaimed liberty to the captives by 
Christ, and for Zion's sake he -could not hold his 
peace, for Jerusalem's sake he could not rest, being 
. greatly desirous that all might come to Christ the 
light, and that the abundance of the sea might be 
converted, and the forces of the Gentiles might 
come unto him : and in the Lord's work he did 
freely spend, and was spent, in true love and zeal 
for the Lord's name and truth, and the good of 
souls : travelling in England, Scotland, Ireland, Hol- 
land, and Germany, and by his powerful preaching 
the word of life, and the Lord's blessing on his 
labours, many were convinced of the holy truth, 
and turned from darkness to light, and from the 
power of Satan unto God, and were as the seals of 
his ministry. 



(cd PIETY PROMOTED. 

He was loving and tender to those that truly 
loved and served the Lord, especially such, whether 
male or female, that the Lord called into his work 
and service, to speak a word in season to Zion's 
travellers, and to comfort those that mourned. 

In the year 1684 he married and settled in 

::d continued faithful and diligent in the 

work railed uir suffered for his 

imprisonment, &c. But when at 

quent in travels as before said, and 

. the churches of Christ in most of the 

counties of this nation, and much in the east parts 

bours of love and service were 

road and at home, and by his grave, 

versation, lie adorned the 

ur, and walked 

I, and that holy proK 

is Christ is the 

I merciful, very considerate of 
the poor, ready to every good work : and to com- 
municate he did : 

11 elder worthy 
of double lions 

706 he left the city and dwelt 

n not well in health ; 

lien he was, and not engaged, in travels, or 

ices on truth's account, for the ease of 

friends he constantly attended the meetings about 

where he lived, and I was clear, living 

and effectual, and reached the witness of God both 

in friends and others. 

He also was very tender to the new convinced, 
and administered suitable advice to their several 
states, as a nursing father, and encouraged all under 
a right sense. 

He had a more than ordinary concern in testimony, 
to press and exhort to such a good life and convert- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 6c 1 

as becomes our Christian profession, often signifying 
that coming to meetings, or pretence to religion, 
and professing Christianity, was of little value, with- 
out the life and conversation were agreeable. 

He often expressed himself to this effect, that 
the pride, liberty, and ill conversation of too many 
under the profession of truth and the Christian 
religion, was a great grief and exercise to him, and 
the sins and miscarriages of such administered unto 
him much sorrow and affliction •, he being under 
great exercise of spirit for the prosperity of truth, 
and that the testimony thereof, in all the branches 
of it, might be duly kept up ; and that all looseness, 
pride and haughtiness, and that libertine spirit that 
would lay waste the heritage of God, might be 
discouraged and suppressed ; and that none might 
take upon them to be rulers in the church, but 
men of truth, men fearing God, and hating covetcus- 
ness. 

This concern grew upon him for several years 
to the end of his days. So that he zealously 
exhorted as aforesaid to a holy and righteous life, 
and all to be just and true in all their concerns 
amongst men : in which he was exemplary in his 
practice, being a man truly religious, and of an 
innocent and virtuous life, full of love, good nature, 
and good works, punctual to his word, just in his 
dealings, a fair trader, chu^ing rather to surfer injury 
than do any wrong. 

He was a bright ornament to our holy religion 
in his conversation, and thereby great reputation 
was gained to truth and friends, among both rich 
and poor with whom he was concerned. The poor 
loved him, to whom he was courteous and charitable, 
and the rich esteemed him greatly, for his prudent 
and innocent behaviour : so that his company was 
acceptable and much desired by them. And many 
who had entertained a mean opinion of friends as a 

Vol I. 2C 



6o2 PIETY PROMOTED. 

people, since their acquaintance and conversation 
with him, have other sentiments of them : and as he 
was beloved in his life, so his death was generally 
lamented. 

He hath left so good a name and savour behind 
him, that his memory will not be easily worn out, 
either among his friends or others. 

He was ill about two months before his decease, 
and although he was often in great pain, he bore it 
with wonderful patience, and was frequently very 
chearful, though his fend drew near; for the sting 
being taken cway, death was not ter- 
rible to him; otten signifying all was well with 
him, and in much tenderness said, ' I have done 
4 the work of my day, I have peace of conscience; 

* I have wronged no man : I have received a great 

* deal of wrong and injury, but I forgive them all, 
' and I d esire the Lord may forgive them also. 
; I die in charity with all the world.' 

Another time he said, ' What a brave thing it is 

* for friends to dwell in unity, here we can sit 

her as the children. of God, the church of the 

* first-born, whose names are written in heaven. 
' Truth is what will endure for ever, and be 

* comfortable to the children of men, and the Lord 

* will exalt it, and make Zion a quiet habitation, 

* and Jerusalem the praise of many generations : he 

* will exalt his truth and name in the earth, and will 
*- bring down that which would oppose his work, 
' and will purge them out of the church which is 
1 exalted, and setting up self, and ruling in their 
' own will and spirit: the Lord will do it all away. 
' I have endeavoured to live inoffensively towards 

* God and man. And now I have no occasion to 

* repent that I have .endeavoured to live well ; and 

* as I have nothing to boast of, I have no occasion 
6 to complain, all is well/ 

Many more sweet expressions, in a tender heavenly 



PIETY PROMOTED. 603 

frame of spirit, very affecting, he uttered to those 
about him in the time of his sickness, that were not 
noted. 

He continued in a sweet composed frame of 
spirit and resignation of mind to the last, and 
departed in great peace the 7th of the Eighth 
month, 1 7 15, and no doubt is in eternal rest, 
receiving the reward of his many faithful labours 
and services for the truth, for the promotion of 
/which, as by the account he kept of his travels 
to the year 1700, were near forty thousand miles, 
besides his travels from the year 1700 to 17 15, in 
which he died, were also very considerable. 

His body was brought to London, and being 
greatly beloved by people of divers professions, his 
corpse was attended by a great company from 
Devonshire-house meeting-place to the burying- 
.ground belonging to his friends in Bunhill-fiv. , 
and there lie was honourably interred. 



JOSEPH "WELSH, of Chesham, in the count} 
** of Bucks, was born at Aylesbury, in the said 
county, in the year 1651, and was convinced of the 
truth in 1674. And it pleased the Lord to call him 
forth in a public testimony about 1676, and he 
became a faithful labourer and serviceable in the 
work of the Lord in Chesham, and other adjacent 
meetings, though for some years past he was disabled 
by infirmities of body. 

He was. a diligent frequenter Gf meetings of 
other days as well as the First-day. He was also 
a promoter of good order in the church, and so 
continued to his end. His testimony was attended 
with life and power, to the comfort and satisfaction 
of the hearers. 

A few hours before his death, he declared the 

. 2 C Z 



6o4 PIETY PROMOTED. 

Lord hath a great work to do in the earth, and 
that it would go well with the faithful, whom the 
Lord would hide in the hollow of his hand. 

This honest man was a loving husband, a tender 
father to his children, and a lively minister. 

He departed this life the nth of tlie Eighth 
month, 1 7 15, and was buried in friends' burying- 
ground at Chesham the 16th of the same, being 
accompanied by many friends and others. 

Aged about Sixty-three, and a minister about 
Thirty-nine years. 



CUSANNAH, late wife of EDWARD SAUN- 
^ DERSj of Clifton, in Bedfordshire, was one 
whom the Lord called and sent to labour in the 
ministry of the word of life, by which she was 
I and qualified to labour in true love for the 
pood of souls, and left her husband and tender 
children to preach the gospel freely, and to visit 
the churches of Christ in divers parts of England, 
5, and Ireland. And her visits were serviceable 
and acceptable, and her conversation was as became 
the profession she made. 

She landed in Ireland, with her companion 
Benjamina Padley, on the 10th of the Fifth month, 
17 15, and travelled in many parts of that nation, 
visiting most of friends meetings there. And on 
the 31st of the Seventh month, 17 15, they came 
to Lurgan, and having been at some meetings in 
that town, on the 8th of the Eighth month went 
to Raffer Island, and the next day were at a marriage 
at the house of Jacob Wilson, where the said 
Susannah Saunders got with some difficulty, being 
ill ; but the Lord was pleased to enable her to bear 
testimony for him : and afterwards was at a meeting 
Un miles further. And the Lord was with her 



PIETY PROMOTED. 605 

znd strengthened her \ but when the meeting was 
over she was very ill, and finding herself much out 
of order, her companion desiring her to go back, 
she consented j yet went to- meetings as long as she- 
was able. 

On the 26th she was at a meeting where she 
was opened- in testimony to the great satisfaction of 
friends 1 for the Lord gave her suitable ability to do 
what he required of her, which she did perform 
to the honour of his name. But after this she 
weakened much, and her bodily affliction was great, 
Which she bore with much patience and resignation 
to the will of God, and often declared she thought 
she should not return home y yet said, ' I am easy 

* and resigned, and have endeavoured to discharge 

* my duty according to my small measure, and 
1 have been freely given up to spend and be spent 
' for the gospel's sake, and the Lord hath been good 
€ to me. I pity my dear husband, and often think 
<= on him ; but hope he will be enabled to bear his 
4 exercise. My poor little babes will miss their 
' mother •, but I commit them to him that gave 

* them me, who I believe will take care of them 1 

* the Lord took care of me when I was tender in 

* age, and he hath been good to me from my 
*■ childhood.' And then she advised her companion 
to faithfulness and watchfulness, and reminded her 
of the goodness of God she had been partaker of j 
and was fervent to the Lord for her preservation^ 
and that she might give her up freely to the Lord's 
disposing hand; and. that he might endue her with 
patience to bear her exercise ; and in a very tender 
and sensible manner expressed herself, saying, i I 
4 have a secret hope it will be well with me.' 
And then said again, .' Freely I resign myself into 
i the hand of God:' and she returned thanks unto 
him for her pre ervation. 

Another time, several friends being present,, she 

2C3 



4o6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

said, c There is great satisfaction in an easy mind i 

* [ have great peace in that I have been faithful. 

* I have not spared this piece of clay •, but while 
' I had strength I have been willing to answer what 
1 I was called unto : and now it seems as if my time 
4 was nigh at an end,' 

At another time she said to her companion, l The 

rd has been good to thee; be faithful, fox it is 

.! to have ! ind.' 

One night she seemed as If she was nigh to depart 

this life; her companion being in sorrow* she took 

v the hand, and said, * Dear child, give me up 

1 freely, and have thy eye to the Lord, and he will 

' be with thee, and give thee strength : he has been 

me, and 1 can say it is a good tiling to have 

< ;r mind at such a time as this.' 

in, * How vain are men to be so taken up 

* with the concerns of this life, and seeking to get 

in this world : what is this world worth ? 
c it is not worthy to be compared with the joys of 
1 heaven ; they that are faithful to the Lord will 
their reward. I am now glad that I served 
' the Lord, for I feel the peace and satisfaction 
1 of if 9 and find' nothing, but all is well. I cannot 
i 1 shall go, but it seems as if it might 
c not be long ; however, that is in the hand of the 
' Lord, and I am resigned whether in life or death/ 
Much more she said to them that were about her, 
exhorting them to fear the Lord, and to seek a 
portion m truth, which, she said, would be more to 
them, when they were about to leave this world, 
than any other enjoyment. 

Another time she said, l The man is blessed 

* whose God is the Lord.' Again, • It is a good 
' thing to have the mind truly stayed upon God, 
4 they shall be kept in perfect peace : a great mercy ! 

* a mighty privilege ! ' 

Another time, being very ill, and to appearance 



piety promoted; Btf 

mgh unto death, her com pan ion being sorrowful 
and loth to part with her, Susannah took her by the 
hand and kissed her, saying, e Dear child, why wilt 

* thou hold me ? let me go, and do not be sorrowful, 
c but keep to the' Lord and he will preserve thee. 
c Farewell. Be good and do well, and the Lord' 
s will bring thee through all, thou hast some light 8 

• * afflictions yet to pass through \ but be not dis- 
K couraged,- nor do net look as what may seem' 
4 mountainous, but be watchful and look to the' 
« Lord, and that hand that hath hitherto helped thee, 

< will help thee.' 

And then she said to friends, ' Dear friends, love' 
f truth, it is excellent, it is above rubies, oh ! it is 

* precious, it is above all things, it makes a death-" 

* bed easy : I" am glad my lot is cast in this place, 

* with a couple of young plants that love truth, 
c keep to it and it will make you noble. Dear 

* landlady, farewell 5 the blessings of the everlasting 

< hills be upon your heads, the Lord bless you and 
( make you serviceable in his church. 5 Then speak- 
ing of her illness, said, ( All that I crave now is 
( patience, that I may hold out to the end, that 

* I may net dishonour the Lord : the honour of 

* his name has been as dear to me as my life/ 

A few days before she died several friends came 
to see her, and after some time her mouth was 
opened amongst them in a sv/eet exhortation to love 
truth and keep to it, and to be watchful and id keep 
to the Lord, and not let their minds be too much 
after the world, and testifying of the goodness of 
the Lord, she committed them, with her own soul 9 
to his protection, giving honour to his name.— 
That night she was very ill, and said, { It is hard 
' work to leave this world ; one had not need 

* have any thing else to do,' or to that purpose. 

Next day, being First-day, she was very much 
weakened, and some friends coming in that evening 
2C4 



to? PIETY PROMOTED. 

to see her, she said, c I am glad to see so many of 
' you, I did not expect to have been here so long : 
4 I am long a dying, it is hard work to die.' Then 
friends sitting in silence a while, she exhorted them 
to faithfulness and diligence, and to love truth, and 
to seek the honour of God, adding, l Oh ! that the 

* youth of our age would love truth, and seek the 
' Lord, and serve him in their youthful time, they 

the benefit of it, it would he more to 

in all the world : but many of them are 

and contenting themselves with a pro- 

! that will do nothing for them: my 

4 90Ul hath often mourned for the youth of our time, 

* ?.m\ I have been under great travail of soul, that 

* they might come to fear the Lord ; but there are 
' many of them that grieve the Lord, and are 
' following the pleasures of this world. Friends, 

* love truth and it will make you noble: oh! that 
1 the elders would love truth, there are elders that 

* love the Lord, and they are a comfort and a 
' strength to the youth that fear God, and to one 

* another-, they are as joints and bands that cannot 

ly be broken, my soul loves them: and seeing 

* it was the will of the Lord to visit me with 

* weakness, so that I am not likely ever to see my 

* habitation again, I am thankful my lot was cast in 

* this place. Dear friends, keep near truth, and it 

* will keep you in a trying time *, for there is a 
1 tr y^'3 time approaching, in which there will be 

* great desolation.' With much more to the same 
purpose. She often spake of the goodness of God 
to her from her very childhood, and enumerated 
his favours, and acknowledging his care, said he had 
been a tender Father unto her, and she believed he 
would be so to hers. Her affliction being very 
great, she besought the Lord, in a humble frame, 
that he would be pleased either to relieve her or 
release her, or to give her patience that she might 



PIETY PROMOTED. 609 

not murmur. . Then looking on them about her, 
said, { It is hard work to go out of this troublesome 
world/ 

About four days before she died she writ to her 
husband, wherein she signified that she weakened 
daily, and that the Lord by his divine hand had 
wrought a willingness in her to spend and be spent 
for his- name's sake, and that she felt sweet com- 
fort, quietness and content, ' which/ said she, 
6 out-balanceth all things else. My dear, I fervently 

* desire the Lord may be with thee, and bring thee 

* to a resignation : and stand faithful in every branch 

* of thy testimony for the blessed truth ; thou wilt 

* have the comfort of it. Dear heart, if I should 
' never see thy face more, I desire thee to take care 

* of our tender babes, and bring them up, as much 
8 as in thee lies, in the fear of the Lord : I have 

* been deeply bowed on their accounts, am fully 

* satisfied, if they live, the Lord will visit them in 
' their tender years, and it seems to me as if my 

* dear Susannah may tread, in many respects, in her 
' mother's steps ; the Lord preserve her, arid bring 

* her to chuse him for her portion, then it will be 

* well, and she may be serviceable when my head is 
' laid in the -silent grave. My dear little boy, if he 

* grow up, it will be hard for him to submit to the 
. ' yoke, yet I secretly hope he will in time be made 

' to bow, which is some satisfaction to my mind: 

* I must commit them to the tender care and 
' protection of him that gave me them :' with more 
not abstracted, which she concludes in bowels of 
intire love, his affectionate wife, &c. 

The day she departed, sitting in a chair, the 
pangs of death being upon her, she desired to lie 
down, which she did, and waited for her change, 
and R. H. being there, was concerned in supplication 
for her : when he had done, she said, c There is a 
•divine hand has laid some hold at this time/ 
2C5 



6 10 PIETY PROMOTED. 

so went on sweetly, declining of the goodness 

of God, and desiring her friends might be faithful, 

warning them of the judgments of God that were 

to be poured forth upon the nations, and 

rted them to lice to the Lord, who would be 

defence and str< ng tower, in the time of 

i . And having spoke much of the wrath of 

God that was ready to break forth, exhorted friend-; 

to abide upon the rock. Then she brake forth in a 

, setting forth the glory of the kingdom 

of Christ, that the Lord, after he had punished the 

exalt the kingdom of his Son, and 

is hdly hill of Zion, and all nations 

d flow unto him, and he should exalt the 

•-htcousness above all scepters, and 

LJngdom above all kingdoms. Then blessing 

reservation and mercy towards her, 

and for ihe assurance given her that it would be 

with her, she said, c I have not sought a name 

ferae among men; but have discharged myself 

:. fully in the sight of God: I have not desired 

• to appear in shew what I was not; but to be in 

e more than I appeared to men. And it 
1 was neither for honour nor esteem that I left my 
' dear husband and tender babes ; but that I might 
1 answer the will of God, and in a concern for the 

* promotion of truth, and the honour of God.' 

ring the Lord would bless his people in that 
nation, and particularly that meeting and family 
where she then was, and reward friends for their 
and care towards her. She continued her 
exhortation to them to be faithful ; she again de- 
clared of the-' goodness and mercy of God : and so 
lay in a sweet frame of spirit, giving glory to God 
and magnifying his power, until her strength and 
speech failed, and then, lying still, she looked on 
them there with a pleasant countenance, (as one 
that had a sight of the joys she was entering into ,) 



PIETY PROMOTED. 6ir 

and about the 7th hour in the evening departed this- 
life the 9th of the Ninth month, 1 7 1 5, and was buried 
the 1 2th of the same in friends' burying-ground in 
Lnrgan, her corpse being accompanied by a large 
" number of friends and others ; and there was a 
good meeting, in which the glory of truth was 
eminently manifested, to the tendering of many 
hearts, which was -as a seal upon the spirits of 
friends j that it was well with her. 

Aged about Thirty-eight, and a minister eighteen 
years. 



HPHOMAS WILLIAMSON,' late of Bannefig," 
4; in Appleth wait, in the parish of Windmoor,- 
and county of Westmoreland, was born at Common, 
in the said parish, about the latter end of the Fourth 
month, 1633, of honest parents and of good report, 
educated according to the manner of the church of 
England. • 

He was naturally of a cheerful and free disposition, 
inclining in his youth to the vanities and pastimes, 
in which too many spend their precious time ; 
though he at that time was very circumspect in 
observing those outward performances he esteemed 
religious duties. But in the year 1670, it pleased 
the' Lord to visit him with some affliction of body, 
and to open his understanding to see the emptiness of 
all his former formal profession, and the vanities of 
his past life, and sorrowed distress took hold upon 
him for it, &iitb cries and breathings were raised in 
him unto the Lord, that he would shew him his 
way, and he would walk in it. And it pleased the 
Lord to answer his desire, and to convince him of 
the blessed truth, which he received with joy and 
gladness, before he had been at any meeting of the 
people called Quakers t and he gave up thereunto 
according to his understanding. 
2C6 



6i2 PIETY PROMOTED. 

About the latter end of the year 1 673 his mouth 
was opened in a public testimony to declare the 
goodness of the Lord to him, and to encourage all 
unto faithfulness, in which he was a goo<l example, 
and a considerable sufferer for his testimony, both 
by imprisonment and spoiling of goods. 

in the year 1678, he was imprisoned three months 
for preaching truth in a steeple-house, and most of 
hifl goods were taken from him, by some justices, 
on the Conventicle Act: for he was not only fined 
for himself, but ten pounds laid on him for being 
present at meeting held at Bownass, the 15th of the 
Seventh month, 1678. 

His testimony he delivered in much plainness and 
simplicity. He was tender to the good in all, 
though sharp in rebuking that which was evil. He 
1 man that feared God, sincerely loved truth, 
and hated hypocrisy, and deceit •, sound in judgment, 
of a good conversation ; just and honest towards all 
bold and valiant for truth upon earth *, un- 
daunted in suffering, rejoicing the Lord had counted 
him v/oithy to suffer for his name's sake; zealous in 
his testimony against the payment of tithes, and those 
called church rate^, for which he was a constant 
sufferer, and an encourager of others also to faith- 
fulness therein ; diligent in reading the holy scriptures, 
and in attending of meetings, as well those for good 
order in the church, as those for the worship of 
God, until by age and infirmity of body he was 
deprived of that privilegv-r He often said, * The 
4 worship of God, and the good of the church, 
* ought to be preferred before our business.' 

He truly confided in the Lord, and gave this 
testimony on his dying-bed, that God had dealt 
bountifullv with his soul, and had given him all he 
had need of j and that he had peace with the Lord, 
and his soul was returning into rest; with more 
words not noted. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 613 

He died the 2 2d of the Tenth month, 171 5, and 
was buried at Kendal the 25th of the same; aged 
about Eighty-two, and a minister about forty years. 



JOHN CLOSE was convinced of the blessed truth 
*^ about the year 1705, and was very diligent in 
frequenting meetings, though it was through much 
difficulty at times, by reason of his father's un- 
willingness and aversion thereunto ; nevertheless he, 
having a due regard to truth, was preserved so 
blameless in conversation, that he not only gained 
upon his father to leave him to his liberty, but was 
likewise instrumental towards convincing his brother 
and two sisters. 

After some time he received a gift of the ministry 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, in which he kb©ured 
faithfully and fervently, being sound in doctrine. 

He travelled much in truth's service, visiting the 
southern parts of this nation divers times, as well 
as counties nearer home, and in Scotland, Holland 
and Wales, being zealously concerned for the pros- 
perity of truth and the promotion thereof. And 
was an encourager of the good in all, and careful 
to suppress every appearance of evii •, very diligent 
in visiting the afflicted. His care over the church 
was great, his advice seasonable, his judgment 
sound j he was chiefly concerned for the honour of 
truth, and that friends therein might live in unity, 
and be at peace one with another. 

In the beginning of the Eleventh month, 17 15, 
having drawings upon his spirit to visit friends in 
Cumberland, he went with the unity of the brethren 
and visited several meetings in that county. On the 
15th of the same he was at Wigton, where he 
began to be ill : the next day he travelled to Holme 
meeting, where notwithstanding his illness he bore 



( i !- PIETY PROMOTED. 

a faithful testimony to the- great satisfaction of 
friends. 

That evening he came to a meeting at Allonbv, 
but his sickness increasing he sate but a little time 
in the meeting, and signified in a few words he felt 
goodness of the Lord upon his spirit, and his 
gladness thereof; and advised friends to be faithful 
and 6 ted fast in their love to God, and do whatever 
they could for the Lord in their day and time, 
adding he believed some in that place had not long 
to live in this world. 

And so took his leave of the meeting and went 
his chamber, where he continued the most 
part of two weeks; but by reason of His distemper 
(the small-pox) lying heavy upon him, he could not 
speak much without great uneasiness, yet he bore it 
with great patience, and whilst hi speech continued, 
some friends sitting by him, he said, 'We had* 

* need to be prepare;! for our change ; when sickness 
' comes we have enough to grapple with, and not to 

* have our peace with the Lord to make then.' 

He was several times exercised in prayer to the 
Lord, and one time to this effect, ' Lord, thou that 
1 hast been with me in the deeps, leave me not to 

* the end.' 

The day before he died, being asked how he had 
rested, lie said, ' I think I know when my rest will 

* be ; to-morrow morning, some time after the day 
c be li^ht;' at which time he died, being the 27th 
of the Eleventh month, and sixth day of the week. 
And was buried the 20th in friends' burying-ground 
at Allonby in Cumberland, and his corpse ac- 
companied by many friends and others. And it is 
assuredly believed that he is entered into that rest 
that is prepared for the righteous ; aged about 
Thirty-five, and a minister nine years. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 6z S 

XyiLLIAM GREENUP, late of Ffatts, in 

' Cumberland, a worthy and faithful servant of 

the Lord, his name remains among the living, his 
service and footsteps may be exemplary to those that 
succeed him, to follow. 

He was of great value and esteem, being an elder 
worthy of double honour, the Lord having com- 
mitted unto him a gift of the ministry, and his 
testimony was living and powerful. He was fervent 
in prayer, and his doctrine sound, delivered in the 
power and demonstration of the spirit, and to the 
edification and comfort of ail the true and faithful 
among whom he ministered. He was greatly helpful 
to the meeting to which he did belong, in managing 
the affairs of truth, being zealously concerned for 
the keeping up, maintaining and promoting good 
order in the church, and often advised friends to 
faithfulness, and to keep up their testimony against 
undue liberty. 

He laboured to preserve love and unity among 
.brethren, and travelled for the promotion of truth 
in many parts of this nation, as also in Ireland, 
Scotland and Wales. His labour and travel were 
both in body and spirit, to bring men to the 
knowledge of the truth, and to be acquainted with 
the Lord, and to know their peace made with him. 

Several were convinced by his testimony, and not 
only so, but became fellow-labourers with him in 
the ministry. 

He was very careful and tender over such who 
were young in the experience of truth, and where 
he saw good inclinations to grow, would often 
encourage them to their great help and comfort, 
as several have good cause to remember. So that 
the loss of him is great, though his being taken 
away is his gain, being one that truly loved and 
feared the Lord, and was freely devoted to serve 
truth, and his heart and house were free and open 



6\6 PIETY PROMOTED. 

to entertain friends : for it pleased the Lord to 

incline ins heart first to seek the kingdom of God 

. nd the righteousness thereof in his young years, 

as he gave up in obedience to the Lord, he 

increased his faith and knowledge; so that lie was 

able not only to believe, but suffer for his 

And that which crowned his labours, he 

kept faithful and stedfast to the end. 

He was sorely afflicted with a pain in his head for 
some months ; then it pleased the Lord to visit him 
with a sharp sickness for about three days, which 
he endured with much pntience, as was observed by 
those that went to visit him, to whom he expressed 
his being freely resigned to the Lord's will, whether 
to live or die. 

This good man departed this life the 4th of the 
First month, 17 16, and was buried in friends' 
burying-ground near his own house, at Flatts, in 
Cumberland. Aged Seventy-five years. 



OICHARD RANSOM, miller, late of Norwal- 
•*-*' some, near Norwich, in the county of Norfolk, 
was convinced of the holy truth about the year 
1676, and to him, through the Lord's mercy, it 
was given not onlv to believe in God and in Jesus 
Christ his Son, but also to suffer long and hard 
imprisonment for his name's sake near fifteen years. 
And he was faithful and zealous for the Lord, 
and the Lord was pleased to qualify, call and send 
him forth freely to preach the gospel of peace and 
of the grace of God, and he did attend him with 
his presence and power, and bless his labours of 
love for the good of souls. And he travelled much 
in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. 

In his travels in Gloucestershire he was taken ill, 
and at Bristol, in the Ninth month, 17 16, he took 



PIETY PROMOTED. 617 

his bed, being visited with the small-pox ; which 
when he perceived, he said that as the Lord had 
carried him through the nations to this time, and 
now to lay this distemper on him, he thought it was. 
for his end. So he made his will, and desired a 
letter might be wrote to his wife and children. And 
considering the great distance they were from him, 
he had no desire of their coming to him •, but desired 
his near and dear love might be remembered unto 
them, with fervent desires to the Lord for their pre- 
servation in the truth, that they might be kept in 
true faithfulness and obedience to his requiring^ 
and that in this their exercise, they may keep in true 
patience and obedience to the Lord, who would 
keep and provide for them to the end of their days, 
as he had done hitherto. 

He said to friends at Bristol he was glad to see 
them, and that which makes, said he, more glad, 
is to find truth alive amongst you : keep to truth, 
the pure truth, the unspotted truth, and that will 
keep you a clean people to God 5 keep to truth, and 
that will be over all : and prayed that the Lord 
would be with his young ones, which he was bring- 
ing up. 

Another time he said to friends, ' Poor things ! 
* do you stand faithful for God and his truth : be 
' valiant for the truth, and it will be a comfort to 
*■ you, as it is given way unto, it will come up into 
i dominion and be over all. I know what I say, I 
' have felt the comfort of it many a time, and do 
s now to this very day. a Then he spake of the 
meeting he had been at, at Thornbury, saying, 
{ I got comfort there ; friends were near to my life/ 
Also said, ' I am glad to see the Lord is at work, 
'he is bringing forth a people that shall stand faith- 
. i ful to him.' After a time he kneeled down and 
prayed fervently for them. 

On the second of "the Ninth month he took his 



PIETY PROMOTED. 

. friends came to see him, to v. 
he s; mds', the Lord hath given me an 

, and hath let me sec many years' 
but more of latej why he afflicted 

rder to drive them nearer 
; for the Lord is about to try his 
iar friends, he not discouraged •> for 
-, and thfoi 
tk fneaih s my 
of it, and I speak it for 
Jesus carries his lambs lit 
and leads his along into the low valleys, 
pastures of life, and to lie down as at 
ne shaH make them afraid. — 
ll to all those that trust in him : 
hi faithful and not wavering , for- 
• the waves of the sea. 
Thtre is a day /and will come, that shall 

he foundations of ali, young and old; and 
lied on the rock shall be 
■ : but the Lord is raising up some that 
shall stand as iron pillars for his truth ; and shall 
not value their lives unto the death.' 
Another time he said, * Friends, I desire you not' 
to look at any instrument, but let your trust be in 
rl • ./ d of Israel, who shall keep- and preserve 
th my; soul.' And then he prayed" 
. -odd bless friends in their meetings' 
and in amilies, and to comfort his afflicted' 

. rich he had left behind, and* 
the Lord would bless and preserve his lirtle 
ones in tins city. 

Again, after a little silence, c I have another 

' word rises in my heart to speak to you all, and it 

tis: endeavour tc delight in silence, worship 

* the Lord in the silence of all flesh : retire in your 
( 0wn families from the clutter and hurries of 

* business of the world, and wait upon the Loi d 



PIETY PROMOTED. 6ig 

s in stillness ; for the Lord will have a willing 
' people/ 

A friend expressed his concern that he should be 
so suddenly taken, and with such a dangerous dis- 
temper, he replied, in a very comfortable manner,- 

* I am well satisfied and content with the will of the 

* Lord therein y and further signified that he found 
nothing troubled him, and he was clear, and easy, 
and willing to die : and bid the friend give his dear 
Jove to friends at Bath. And in a solemn and sweet 
frame, scad, l Farewell ; if I never see thee more, 
1 be sure to keep to truth, and that will keep thee, 
' and do not part with or lose thy sense of that for 
c any thing whatsoever/ 

Another time, not long before he died, he said 
to friends about him, * I am glad to see you, and it 
i is a comfort to me this day j and I am well pleased 

* that I was brought hither to die with you, and 
6 that I shall ky my bones with you at Bristol, I 
' desire you (viz, Susannah Thurston and Susannah 

* Parker of Thombury) that you would be at my 
' burial j il is the last office of love you can shew 
( me, and sen! for John Hodges and Henry Sanger,' 

To some friends that were going to meeting, he 
said, (this was not long before he died) ' The Lord 
' be with you, the Lord be with you : I hope you 

* will have a good meeting. • 

Another time he said, £ I have made it my care 
< to be obedient to what the Lord hath required 
c of me, and in that I find peace and satisfaction. 
6 Peace on a dying bed is more than all, and I bless 
€ God, I can say in truth without boasting, I feel his 
. c peace : I am easy and freely resigned in his will, 
' and have nothing to do but to die ; for I have 

* faithfully discharged myself of what the Lord re- 

* quired of me, and am going to receive the reward 
' of my doings.' 

Friends taking their leave of him, he said^ in a, 



620 PIETY PROMOTED. 

weighty frame of mind, • Farewell, farewell, fare- 

* well in the Lord Jesus j for in him alone is it we 

* can fare well.' 

About half an hour before he died, he was raised 
up in his bed, and said to friends, ' What need have 

* we to center down in the night season, to feel 

* blessed Jesus, sweet Jesus, heavenly Jesus to com- 

* mime with us ; for when he comes he puts an end 
1 to all rovings and hurries which are in the world, 
1 with many trials, tribulations and afflictions, which 

* rise not out of the dust : but dear friends, Israel's 
4 God will not leave his afflicted ones, for he will 
' prosper his work which he hath begun, and ye 
1 shall see it as you are faithful ; and here you shall 
1 be made witnesses that one hour in the presence 
1 of the Lord is better than a thousand elsewhere : 

* for in the world are trouble, strife, animosities and 
1 contentions you may see •, but all this will come to 

* an end, as we keep in the patience and stillness 

* of Jesus ; for that will conduct us safe to our de-- 
' sired rest, where all sorrows will cease, and tears 
1 be wiped away ; and that you may be preserved in 

* true faithfulness, is the desire of my soul.' 

And in about half an hour after he departed in 
peace, the 8th day of the Ninth month, about mid~ 
night, i :6. He was buried the ioth of the same 
in friends' burying-ground in Bristol. 



>HN DICKINSON, late of Berkhouse, in Gray- 
rig, in the county of Westmoreland ; a few hours 
re his departure, some friends being there, he 
said, ' I have taken an- inspection into the course or 

* my life, since the time of my convrncement, and 

* I have no ill thing to accuse myself with ; for the 

* fear of the Lord was before mine eyes, by which 

* I was preserved : only (said he) when I was set at 



PIETY PROMOTED. 621 

* liberty from my imprisonment, I thought myself 

* too eager for the getting of this world together •, 
4 yet, (added he) I have not to charge myself with 

* oppressing any man ; but what I have, I obtained 
c it honestly.' And then he said, ' I have great 
' peace in that I have been faithful in bearing my 

* testimony against the payment of tithes ; for, (said 
' he) I could never neither pay, nor suffer any to 
x pay for me, hating in my heart such hypocrisy/ 
And to friends by hirn, said, c Give up freely to 

* come to week-day meetings, to wait upon God to 

* feel him to renew your strength : for when I had 
■* work and business, I could not be easy tc :i:ay from 

* a week-day meeting ; I felt the movings of truth 

* to draw me, a>nd set me at libertv from outward 
'employ; not only for my Own growth, but that I 
' might be exemplary to others.' 

The quarterly-meeting at Kendal gave the fol- 
lowing testimony, the 17th of the Second month, 
1 7 1 2, concerning John Dickinson : 

( He was one whom the Lord was pleased to visit 

* in his young and tender years. In the time of his 
4 apprenticeship he was convinced of the blessed 
c truth, and afterward suffered great cruelty from Iris 

* master for using the single language : and though 
•* his said master beat him often, to the loss of much 

* blood, yet he bore it patiently, and did not shrink 
' in his testimony which God had given him to bear ; 

* upon which occasion he expressed to several the 
£ great peace and comfort he had from God to his 
c soul. 

' Some time after his apprenticeship it pleased the 

* Lord to open his mouth in a powerful and living 

* testimony, which was to the great comfort of 

* friends, and the edification of the churches of 

* Christ where his travels were ; which were mostly 



622 



PIETY PROMOTED. 



1 in several of the northern counties, and in Scotland,. 

* and divers were convinced by him. 

* He was valiant for the truth upon earth, and did 
c not turn his back in the day of battle ; but suffered 
' joyfully the spoiling of his goods, imprisonments 
' and other hardships, counting the reproaches of 
' Christ great riches ; it being given him not only to 
( believe, but to suffer for his name. 

4 lie was a man well beloved of his brethren, 
1 and always had a tender regard tor the preservation 
' of unity in the spirit of truth, a man very careful 

* in answering his word and promise to men ; just 
1 in his dealing, often advising friends to be true to 

* Cod, and then they would be just in their dealing 
' with men : so that we have good ground to believe, 

• his hitter end was happy, and that he finished 

* his course in peace with the Lord. 

hus far we found ourselves obliged in duty to 

:\of our deceased friend, that 

rations may know how our 

c ancients came to receive the truth in this latter age 

4 of the world, after so tedious and long night of 

; that those who succeed may walk worthy 

1 of tl .< s they now enjoy, who are entered 

' into the labours of the ancients, and reap the fruits 

1 thereof.' 



I at our Quarterly-Meeting at Kendal, 
1 7th of the Second month, 171'2, by 



Samuel Parrat 
William Williamson 
Nicholas Bookc 
John Skyring 
John Jopson 



Joseph Peason 
John Towanson 
Richard Skyring 
Robert Thompson 
Joseph Atkinson 



PIETY PROMOTED. 623 

-T>UTH, wife of THOMAS WILLAN, of Sed T 

'■*-y berg, in the county of York, and daughter of 
Thomas Robertson, of Grayrig, in the county of 
•Westmoreland, was educated in the way of truth, as 
professed by the people called Quakers, and of an 
innocent life and good conversation, well beloved of 
her friends and neighbours, and lived in great unity. 

She was long troubled with an asthma, or short- 
ness of breath, which she bore with great patience. 

In the time of weakness, towards her latter end, 
she admonished her children to take the advice of 
good friends, and be subject to their father, and to 
keep to plainness in their apparel, and not covet after 
high matters ; for she never did. And that the Lord 
had blessed her, and 'had been good to her everj 
way. And she was resigned and willing to leave 
f this world, as she signified several times. She also 
said at another time, when her husband, children, 
and several friends were present, who came to visit 
•her, t The Lord hath blessed us both inwardly and 
' outwardly, and I dearly love my husband and chiL- 
1 dren,' who were crying about her bed ; and she 
■said, f My mind is taken off from all visible enjoy- 
4 ments;' and blessed God upon her sickbed, saying, 
■ c I bless God's holy name for the many sweet and 
'.comfortable seasons I have had upon my sick bed.' 

She was never heard to murmur in all the time of 
■jier weakness ; but lay in a sweet and quiet frame 
of spirit. She was visited by many friends ancl 
neighbours, to whom she said, ' I am no"t able to ex- 
' press the goodness of God I have felt to my soul :' 
saying also, ' I am glad I have been charitable to the 
' poor, and that I have done good in my day and 
* time : I have the comfort of it now, and great satis- 
4 faction therein.' 

She was a charitable woman to the poor, and took 
, great delight to serve and entertain her friends. 

A little before her departure she told her husband^ 



624 



PIETY PROMOTED. 



she had a sweet dream or vision, and sight of a glo- 
rious place she was going to ; and that she should 
have an easy passage out of this world ; and asked 
him if he thought she might continue another night ; 
4 But,' said she, ' 1 am willing to wait the Lord's 
c time, though I had rather be dissolved, and be with 
' Christ.' Her husband said, he hoped she might. 

She was sensible to the last, and in the evening 
she departed this life very quietly, like one falling 
into a sweet sleep, and is at rest with the Lord for 
ever. She was aged Forty- live years and six days. 



T> ICHARD KINGSTON, a ministering friend, of 
-*^ the town of Plymouth, in the county of Devon, 
being on a journey to visit friends in Cornwall, was 
taken sick with a fever the 4th of the First month, 
at the house of Thomas Giddy, of the parish of Kea, 
being about forty miles short of his home. 

In all the time of his sickness he was endued with 
patience, and many times declared, * I am content 
4 in the will of God, cither to live or to die. To live 

* a little longer for my families sake, I could desire ; 

* but if the Lord be pleased that I must lay down my 

* head here, I am content: I shall lay down my 
c head in peace with God, and in love with all men ; ' 
adding several times, and upon several occasions, * I 

* have made it my business from my youth, to make 
1 my peace with God,' £cc. 

On the 8th day of the aforesaid month, his mourn- 
ful wife came to see him, and he, lifting up his 
hands and eyes, said, ( I am thankful to God that it 
4 is our lot to see each other again. We came to- 
c gether in joy and in love, and so let us part. I 

* desire thee and our children may live in the fear of 
4 God, and in humility, and you will never want.' 
His wife asked him whether he had any thing upon 
his mind concerning his outward affairs -, he ans- 



PIETY PROMOTED. 625 

wered her, ' Trouble me not about the world,' say- 
ing he had in the time of his health declared unto 
her how things should be. 

Several friends asked him from time to time how 
he did $ his answer was, C I am full of pain, and in hard 

* labour : but I bless God, it is well with me as to 

* my inward condition.' And declared how well it 
is to make preparation for death in the time of health ; 
and how unfit poor rrprtals are for such a work in the 
time of sickness. With pretty much more to this 
effect not noted down . 

And on the 10th of the said month he quietly 
departed this life, and his body was decently buried 
in friends burying-place, in the parish of Kea, the 
1 2th of the Eleventh month, and accompanied with 
many friends and others from divers parts, where 
testimony was given relating to eternal life, to the 
great satisfaction of the concourse of people. 



A LEXANDER CLARKE, by occupation a shep- 
^*- herd, whom the Lord visited in his youth, when 
given to pleasure and worldly delights, and begat in 
him a true hunger and thirst after the knowledge of 
God and his truth, and he was drawn from the 
public ways of worship of divers that professed God 
and Christ, and from following those that said c Lo, 
'here is Christ,' and ( Lo, there!' seeing by the 
light of Christ in his heart, that their lives and con- 
versation were not agreeable to.their profession ; and 
he became earnest in his desires,, to join with those 
whose lives and conversations were agreeable to that 
holy profession, of which Christ was the high priest 
and Apostle. And observing the lives and conver- 
sations of the people called Quakers to be agreeable 
thereunto, he inclined to hear them, and to be joined 
unto them : but was cautioned by those professors 
Vol. I. 2D 



626 PIETY PROMOTED. 

that knew him, to beware of the Quakers, telling 
him, they were an erroneous and pernicious people. 
So that he became an earnest contender against 
them ■■> yet some time after this he went to hear them 
at Geddinton in the county of Northampton, 
and after at Wellingborough, where that zealous 
minister and servant of Christ, William Dewsberry, 
preached the gospel powerfully •, so that Alcxander 
Clarke was convinced, and became a frequent attender 
of friends meetings, received the truth in the love of 
it, and waited upon the Lord in silence, and came to 
know the spirit and power of Gcd to work in and 
upon him, and he became a faithful follower of him. 
And when the lord had fitted him for his work, 
he c< i him a d ; spensation of the gospel of 

I "f the Lord came to him as he 
was following his flock in the field, and said to 
him, ■ fill, and thou shalt prophesy :' 

and indeed he did, and freely preached the gospel 
oi Chri t. Though he knew not letters, he was 
well acquainted with the word of life, and' he oft 
d to the hearers, and stirred up friends to feel 
ring them to the feel- 
- he would 
often appeal or say, * Ye are my witnesses in the 

* Lord, that I am his servant to serve you in love, 

* and that I preach not myself, but Christ the Lord.' 

He' laboured in his Master's harvest near forty 
years ; and a little before he died he gave friends 
that came to visit him much good counsel and Chris- 
tian advice, which is not inserted, because not taken 
down in writing, and told them he had finished his 
course; and charged his family to love God and eacli 
other, and not forget the Lord, saying, ' Grace teach- 

* eth us all j* which was the last sentence. 

So this faithful servant of the Lord kept the faith, 
finished his course, and fell asleep in the Lord, and is 
.at rest. 



PIETY PROMOTED. 627 

He died in the Seventy-fifth year of his age, having 
been a minister forty years. Many friends attended 
his body to the burying ground at Kittering, in Nor- 
thamptonshire, where he was honourably buried. 



(CHRISTOPHER PE ARSON", of Uiluck, in Cum- 
^-^ berland, when he was a lad, went to a meeting 
of the people called Quakers, at Pardsey Cragg, in 
the said county, to scoff at them, in the year 1656; 
but when he heard the messengers of the gospel of 
Christ declare the everlasting truth, who were sent 
of God to turn people from darkness to the light of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, through their testimony, he 
was convinced by the spirit of truth, and was thereby 
reproved for his vanity, and was reached by the 
Lord's power, and came to know the work of it, and 
to wait upon the Lord therein, to witness a being 
cleansed thereby, and his faith to stand in it ; and 
so to experience the sufficiency of it. And it was 
not only given unto him to believe in the Lord 
Jesus, but also to suffer joyfully for his sake the 
spoiling of his goods, and in his deepest sufferings 
he was supported. 

A few days before he died, he said, ' The Lord 
« hath been kind to me from a child, and hath done 
more for me than I could either ask or think : adding, 

* I never turned my back upon an informer, nor ever 
4 wronged any man of one halfpenny in all my life to 

* my knowledge ' Then he advised his children to 
be careful, and said to them, ■ Do no harm either to 
' man or beast ; but do good wherever you come* 
€ as I have shewed you an example/ He was a good 
neighbour, an honest friend, a loving husband, a 
tender father, a man given to hospitality, and careful 
to entertain strangers : and the Lord was with him 
when on a sic£ bed, and his heart was tendered with 

2D 2 



628 



PIETY PROMOTED. 



a sense and feeling of his love and kindness. A friend 
being by him, asked him how he did, and how he 
was satisfied; he cheerfully answered, ' I am very well 
' satisfied that all will he well ; for I find the Lord's 
' mercies are great : but/ said he, ' I am in great 
' pain, and think the time long till I am released.' 
Adding to the friend, ' We have seen much since 
•.ere convinced : we have gone to the meetings 
1 in true humility, fear and plainness : and truth is 
4 what it was, and all that keep faithful to it, will be 

* kept by it out of all evil. — I am glad to see my son^ 

* settled, and I doubt not but he will stand up in 

* my place •, I advise him to be a good neighbour.' 
Thi ancient friend, being in great affliction of body, 
often prayed to the Lord Jesus, that he would re- 

■r him, and take him to his mercy, that he 
might be eased of his pains and this troublesome 
world •, he kept his integrity to the end,, and it is 
not to be doubted but he finished in peace. And his 
corpse being attended by many friends and sober 
people to Eaglesfield, was there honourably interred, 
and the Lord's power was manifest among them, 
and the way of life and salvation proclaimed, with a 
warning to all to repent of their wickedness, and turn 
to the Lord, that they might be prepared for their 
final change. 



OTEPHEN MANNING, son of Edward arid 
K ^ Alice Manning, of Edmondsbury, in the county 
cf Suffolk, was educated in the way of truth, and 
was from a child of an innocent- and upright life, 
zealous and constant in attending religious meetings, 
and went several miles to them on foot, and was a 
diligent waiter upon the Lord therein, and received 
much benefit thereby, in having his understanding 
enlarged, his strength renewed, and his heart filled 
with the love of God, who was pleased to put him 



PIETY PROMOTED. 629 

info the ministry, and caused him to declare his 
everlasting truth, and to exhort the Lord's people 
iit faithfulness to persevere in the way of the Lord, 
and to be diligent to wait on God, that they might 
live in and enjoy what they were convinced of. He 
was also zealously concerned to camion against 
pride and covetousness, and superfluity in apparel, 
and to beware of those sins, and the various work- 
ings of the enemy. 

He was s a meek steady man, and lived in what 
he preached, being exemplary in his conversation, 
as became his holy profession. 

He was also concerned that the orphans of poor 
friends should be taken care of, and educated in 
sobriety and in the way of truth. And being sen- 
sible that in some places there was too much neglect, 
he wrote an epistle to friends on that account, which 
friends were well affected with, and read in the 
meetings which they had for that and other concerns, 
- 2s the taking care of the "poor, &c. 

He travelled into divers neighbouring counties, as 
Essex, Norfolk, to London, and other places, and 
his labour of love was well received : but growing 
very ill and weak, he was unable for such journies, 
and in his bodily weakness travelled and visited 
friends in their meetings ten or eleven miles about, 
And when he could not go so far, he attended the 
meetings nearer, till he was so weakly he could noi : 
then many friends came to visit him, to .whom he 
declared truth, and said, ' I have desired to have a 
4 name among the righteous, and the Lord hath 

* answered my request j and I have served the Lord 
' faithfully, and have the answer of well done in my 

* bosom.' 

Several tender people, not called Quakers, came 

to see him, to whom he said, ' It is well with me, 

c and the Lord will carry me through to my desired 

' place j ' -and said, ' Ii is a crave thing to have 3 

2D 3 



630 PIETY PROMOTED. 

' conscience void of offence towards God and men : 
1 there is heaven upon earth/ 

He was a man of few words, but savoury ; he 
had great love and large bowels of compassion to- 
wards those that had any gocd desires in them, 
and was tender to those whom the enemy, by his 
subtility and their un watchfulness, had drawn aside 
out of the right way ; and did often exhort, that 
they and all might labour to have a possession in the 
truth, and said, * A profession thereof only will 
do.' 
He bore his illness with great patience, to the 
of those who came to visit him : he was 
truly to the will of the Lord, whether in 

Jiie or death. He acknowledged his dear and tender 
care over him, and his brothers 
*'s love, also friends and neighbours that 
came to visit him, and said to them, * My peace is 

* made : I have nothing to do but to wait for my 

nge, which I long for. I have served the Lord 
' to my uttermost, and am sure of an inheritance 
' with him, who is worthy to be served : he is a good 
1 Jer/ 
After a meeting several friends came to see him, 
and one friend spoke to him of Hopton journey, 
after which he was taken ill ; he said, * I cannot 
' tell but it might weaken me; but I do not repent, 

* it being in the service of truth.' 

. He exhorted friends to love and unity among 
brethren, which he delighted in, and said* c There 
i was a spirit getting in among the professors of 
1 truth, which sought discord ; beware of it/ He 
also signified the judgments of the Lord were come, 
and coming in this nation* and said, * Do nothing 
' whereby to cause the Lord to be grieved ; but be 

* faithful in all things/ 

Some time before his d^ath, on a First-day, one 
of his brothers and sister sitting by him, he spake 






PIETY PROMOTED. 631 

several things relating to truth, and the peace and 
joy he felt ; c And one thing/ said he, ' I know not, 

* and that is, why the Lord so filled me with his 

* love this morning, who account myself but as 

* dust and ashes/ 

About three days before his departure he thought 
he had been going to his desired place, and took his 
leave of his parents and relations, and bid them 
farewell *, ' I hope I am going to an everlasting 

* habitation, where I shall dwell for ever with the 
6 righteous generation ;' — more he then said, which 
could not be understood : his lips going, his brother- 
endeavoured to hear, but could only understand 
these words, ^Xnnoceney thou lov est, Lord.' After 
he revived, and next day, though his voice was 
very low, he spoke several weighty things, and said, 

* Dwell in love, and let it increase/ 

On the Third day of the week, and first of the 
Third month, he said, ' I am extreme ill 5 but I 

* hope the Lord will shortly ease me/ and about the 
sixth hour at night he fell as it were into a sleep, 
and lay near three quarters of an hour, and so passed 
away quietly ; and a few days after he was buried, 
being carried from Bury meeting-house to friends' 
burying ground, accompanied by many friends and 
others, and divers testimonies were borne in love to 
the truth, that had made the deceased what he was, 
and of their satisfaction he was gone to his ever- 
lasting rest. 

Aged Thirty-one and three-quarters ; and a minister 
Eleven years. 



TO AN SLEY, late of Alton, in Hampshire, was 
** an honest, zealous and faithful woman, one that 
loved our Lord Jesus Christ, his ministers and faith- 
ful followers, and was very diligent in meeting with 
the Lord's people, to worship and serve him, what- 



632 PIETY PROMOTED. 

ever loss or suffering she met with for the same, she 
:ted not that service ; and as she diligently 
ht the Lord, he rewarded her, renewed her 
strength, encreased her love and zeal for the truth, 
and preserved her in his fear to a good old age \ 
and he endued her so with his wisdom, that she 

became the holy profession she m in that 

plainness and uprightness 

•r in spirit it!) and example 

is worthy to be followed, and she among the right- 
ting remembran< 
i very tender and charitable to the 

• i good and cornmunic 

rly convinced by that ancient and 

eminent minister George Fox, and being faithful 

unto the Lord, was zealously concerned to bear her 

im, against whatever he shewed her 

to be contrary to truth, and the purity of it. 

After her first convincement she met with sufferings 
afflictions from her own husband for a time, 
and afterwards from others in her own house ; for, 
after her husband's death, she kept the Crown inn, 
in Alton, about forty-six years. She was faithful 
in her testimony relating to truth, and zealous in her 
own house against all manner of excess : all which 
gained her a good report. 

In the time of her illness and' near her end, she 
commemorated the dealings of the Lord with her, 
and. how he 'had been on her side, and stood by her 
in the many great dangers and sufferings she had 
gone through, in bearing her testimony among the 
soluiers and rude persons that sometimes were in 
her house. 

To the last she was lively in her spirit, and the 
Lord was indeed wonderful good to her, and carried 
her through all her trials, and the temptations and 



PIETY PROMOTED. 633 

provocations of the enemy, both within and without 
that attended her. 

She had her memory and understanding to the 
end, though in the Eighty-fourth year of her age, 
and was concerned for the prosperity of truth to the 
last, saying, * If it be the Lord's will, I desire he 
* may expend to the young generation a fresh visir- 
' ation : for (said she] nothing short of a holy life 
' and godly conversation will do.' 

She advised the youth to read the holy scriptures, 
and particularly the last chapter of Joshua, that all 
might serve the Lord in sincerity and truth, which 
she had done, and had the comfort thereof in her 
dying hour, which was in peace with God. 

And as she was well beloved in her life, so when 
she was dead, her body was attended by a great 
many friends and neighbours, and interred at Alton. 



1V|ARY DICKINSON, daughter of Daniel Dick- 
"*r A inson, of Plumland, in Cumberland, departed 
this life the 25th of the Eleventh month, in the Four- 
teenth year of her age ; of whom take the account 
following. 

She was naturally of a cheerful disposition, but 
well inclined to what was good 5 patient under what 
she met with from any that was not pleasing to her, 
not apt to be provoked. 

The Lord was pleased to give her an under- 
standing of his divine truth, and so affected her heart 
with love to it, that when he was pleased to visit' her 
with that sickness, of which she died in about four- 
teen days after, she was very patient and resigned 
to the will of the Lord. 

Her father, some days, before her departure, asked 
her whether she had rather die than live ; she 
answered readily she had- rather die, because she 



034- PIETY PROMOTED. 

hoped a better place was prepared for her ; and 
the same question being put to her another day, she 
gave the same answer. With brokenness of heart 
she often prayed unto the Lord. 

The day she departed, her mother being by her, 
said, ' Wait wiih patience, the Lord will not tarry 
c long.' 'I hen this young virgin, being broken in 
spirit in much tenderness, with a heavenly harmony 
sung praises to the Lord, and uttered many divine 
sayings, and cried unto the Lord, saying, 4 O Lord ! 
4 I pray thee remember me this day, and open a 
' door of mercy for me, and take me to thyself: 
' Lord, have mercy upon my poor soul this day, .and 

* open to me this day, I beseech thee; for there is 
4 none like unto thee ; no, not one.' Then speaking 
to those by her, said, • Fear God, and love him, 
1 and keep his commandments all of you ; and be 

* merciful to the poor, I beseech you all that hear 

* me/ — After, her father asked her if she had any 
pain \ she answered, ' My pain is taken away.' — 
Aj ain, her father said to her, * Dost thou know, 
4 my child, that the Lord hath prepared a place for 

* thee ?' she answered, ' Yes : and not for me only - y 

* but for ail those .that love and fear him, and keep 

* his commandments.' About an hour before her 
death, she being tendered in spirit, and melted as 
wax before the lire, asked for a bible •, which being 
given unto her, she readily turned unto the eighth 
chapter of Genesis, and distinctly read it, then 
covering herself, sweetly died without either sigh 
or groan. 

THE END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 



London: yrinuo by William Phillips, George Yard, Lombard Siiect. 



INDEX. 



Aldam, Thomas 
Alexander, Isaac 
Allen, William 
Andrews, Richard 
Arnold, Joshua ' 
Audland, John 
Ayrry, John 

Bacon, Christopher 
Baines, James 
Banks, John 
Barclay, David 
Barclay, Robert 
Barcraft, Thomas 
Barcraft, William 
Barer oft, Eleanor 
Barnardiston, Giles 
Barker, Elizabeth 
Barrow, Robert 
Ba)dey, William 
Beard, Nicholas 
Beck, Sarah 
Beckwith, Sarah 
Beere, John 
Benson, George 
Berry. Margaret 
Bevan, Barbara 
Sevan, William 
Blackhouse, James 



Page 
202 


Blackhouse, Sarah 


Page 
•423 


351 


Blaikling, Francis 


313 


231 


Blaikling, John 


297 


305 


Boulton, John 


464 


563 


Bawron. John 


255 


50 


Brain, Tudor 


130 


561 


Braithwait, Elizabeth 


94 




Brlggins ? Joseph 


72 


78 


Eriggins, William 


504 


294 


Brown, Sarah 


206 


486 


Bunion, Joshua 


393 


95 
336 


Burnyeat, John 
Burrough, Edward 


183 

45 


473 






470 


CadwolaJer, Morgan 


154 


27-2 


Camm, Anne 


355 


82 


Camm, John 


21 


179 


Camm, Sarah 


89 


127 


Camm, Thomas 


4 10 


70 


Cannings, Eleanor 


351 


400 


Captain, William 


265 


80 


Carlile, John 


430 


185 

402 


Champion, Esther 
Clarke, Alexander 


• 590 

625 


565 


Close, John 


613 


389 
508 


Coale, Josiah 
Coale, Joseph 


56 
237 


397 


Coale, "William 


79 


277' 


Copperthwaite.Elizabethl69 



Page 

Costard. Taner 581 

Cotton, Priscilla 259 

Crisp, btephen 1 15 

Crook, John 183 

Crouch,' William 532 

Curwen, Alice 83 

Cuthbert, Priscilla 314 

Davis, Richard 451 

Davis, Tacy 281 

bury, Anne 37^9 

1") •■.•'ourv, William 141 

Diaraon, Margaret 465 

Dickenson, Matthew . :: 

Dickinson, Elizabeth 421 
Dickinson, John 
Dickinson. Mary 
Doekery, Thomas 
Doughty, Phebe 

Drewet, Amariah 106 

. Mary 31 

Ellis, John 432 

Ellis, William 470 

Ernes, Mercy 280 

Everden, Thomas 526" 

Farmborough,Mariabella 512 

Farnsworth, Richard 53 

Featherstone, Joseph 1 

Featherstone, barah 109 

Fell, Judith 91 

Fell, Thomas 393 

Fennell, William 407 

Fisher, Robert 569 

Fletcher, Peter 333 

Fooks, George 4 12 

Forbes, Roderick 566 

Forster, Thomas 42 



Page- 
Fox, George 111 
Fuller, Abraham 334 
Fuller, Joseph 98 
Furly, Elizabeth 65 

Garton, Susannah 575 

Garton, William 222 

Gates, Nicholas 439 

i Gtttos, Thomas 273 

| Gibson, William 269 

| Gill. Roger 2G5 

j Gilpin, Thomas 301 

j Godfrey, Sarah 455 

| Graham, Andrew 262 

Gray, George 110 

J Greenup, Vv iiliam 615 

Grove, Joseph 588 

' Mains, Thomas 133 

Hamilton, Hays 314 

Harman, Elizabeth 147 

Harris, Alary 54 

Harris, William 417 

Harrison, George 177 

Matton, Robert 385 

Hay dock, Elizabeth 4S2 

Haydoek, Henry 192 

Hearn, Mordecai 86 

Hill, Robert 537 

Hingston, Richard 624 

Holm , Joshua 513 

Hopkins, Elizabeth 401 

Hornold, William 528 

Hpwgill, Francis 60 

Hubberthorn, Richard 4-3 

Huberstie, Robert 427 

Humphreys, Anne 539 

Hunt, Samuel 436 
Huntington, Elizabeth 386 



INDEX. 





Pa£e 




Page 


JaJfFray,- Alexander 


213 


Padley, Mary 


216 


Janney, Thomas 


195 


Padley, Ruth. 


570 


Jeckel, Robert 


74 


Padley, Sarah 


220 


JefFerys, Edward 


387 


Page, Mary » 


382 


Johnson, Mercy 


278 


Parker, Edward 


350 






Parnel, James 


19 


-Kellam, Joan 


205 


Patchet, Francis 


77 


Kellam, Margaret 


205 


Patrickson, Anthony 


381 


Kinman, Richard 


574 


Pearson, Christopher 


627 


Kirkbride, Sarah 


288 


Penn, Gulielmo Maria 


117 


Kir ten, William 


510 


Penn, Springet 


124 


Knipe, George 


520 


Perkin, Eleanor 


572 






Peters, John 


456- 


Lancaster, Margaret 


519 


Pike, Richard 


321 


Latey, Gilbert 


419 


Pontyn, Henry 


351 


Lawson, Jonah 


93 


Post, Mary 


553> 


Leddra, William 


38 


Priestman, Richard 


555 


Livingston, Patrick 


118 






Lodge, Robert 


114 


Ransom, Richard 


616 


Loe, Thomas 


(54 


Richards, Priscella 


308 


Lloyd, Thomas 


243 


Richardson, Christoph* 


tr479 






Rlgg, William 


557 


Manning, Stephen 


628 


Rigge, Ambrose 


412 


Markes,. Elizabeth 


507 


Right, Samuel 


474 


Marshall, Charles 


217 


Roberts, Hugh 


258 


Matern, John 


81 


Robinson, Thomas 


226 


Martyn, James 


163 


Robinson, Thomas 


227 


Middleton, Ruth 


210 


Robinson, William 


24 


Molleson, Margaret 


67 


Rutt, Frances 


434 


Mollineux, Mary 


164 






Moore, Mary 


441 


Sager, John. 


435 


Moss, Elizabeth 


244 


S amble j Richard 


157 


Musgrave, Peregrin- 


562 


Samm. Mary 


85 






Sandham, Deborah 


348 


Newland, George 


459 


Sandham. Robert 


347 






Sarisom, Oliver 


474 


Ormston, Charles 


22 4 


Satterthwaite, Reuben 


330 


Ormston, John 


225 


Saunders, Susannah 


604 






Scaif, Barbara 


103 


Padley, Benjamin. 


107 


Scaif, Mary 


105 


Vol, I, 


c 


l& 





>H; 



Scott Sarah 


Page 
403 


Turner, Mary 


Pa** 

Hi 


Simpson, William 


234 


Turner, William 


311 


Sixsmith, William 


76 






Sley, Joan 


631 


Upsher, Thomas 


33 


Smith, Humphry 


47 






Smith, Stephen 


22S 


Vokins, Joan 


112 


Smith, William 


240 


Vokins, Richard 


316 


Smith, William 


267 


Vokins, Thomas 


315 


Soundy, Sarah 


410 






Sowle, Andrew 


120 


Waldenfield, Samuel 


599 


Stamper, Hugh 


327 


Walker, William 


207 


Staploe, Anne Mercy 


153 


Wardel, Robert 


145 


Steel, John 


241 


Waring, Jeremiah 


523 


Sftone, Joseph 


540 


Watson, Grace 


174 


Stout, Henry 


198 


Watson, Mary 


172 


$t< at, Mary 


433 


Watson, Samuel 


464 


Stovey, William 


421 


Welsh, Joseph 


60^ 


Stubbs, Mary 


411 


Whiddon, Elizabeth 


346 






Whitehead, Ann 


101 


Taylor, Andrew 


168 


Whitehead, Jane 


69 


Taylor, Daniel 


595 


Whiting, John 


378 


Taylor, John 


468 


Widders, Robert 


99 


Thompson, John 


590 


Willan, Ruth 


623 


Thompson. Margaret 


268 


Williamson, Thomas 


611 


Thompson, Sarah 


289 


Wills, Elizabeth 


317 


Thompson, Thomas 


324 


Wilson, Edward 


518 


Tomkins, John 


424 


Wilson, Thomas 


515 


Toovey, Rebeckha 


586 


Wilson, William 


170 


Tovey, William 


394 


Woolbridge, Humphrey 


416 


Truss, Anne 


416 


Wresle, Thomas 


264 


Turnei, Hannah 


338 







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